Portrait

Hilary Clinton told Congress, “I think that the Sri Lankan Government knows that the entire world is very disappointed that in its efforts to end what it sees as 25 years of conflict, it is causing such untold suffering,”.

Of all the voices calling for a ceasefire, Hilary’s is the most whiny.

I don’t agree with the particular way in which the GoSL has handled the situation, but no one can deny its success. And maybe these things aren’t as easy and black and white as we imagine; maybe sometimes difficult decisions have to be made, and under immense pressure. Of course there is a huge humanitarian crisis, and both the LTTE and the GoSL are responsible for it. But from what I can see, at least the GoSL is trying in whatever way they can in the current circumstances to get aid to the IDPs trapped in with the Tigers. The Tigers have sat on their arses for 25 years, they haven’t done anything for the people in the North in terms of development and now they’re losing and they’re using these innocent people to prolong their defeat.

Mostly, it’s so rich that this comment comes from the Americans. They started this whole War on Terror thing, which made it fashionable to go after the terrorists and tear down entire nations in the name of doing so. What about the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East created single handedly by America’s unplanned and unwise attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq? Worse, what about the religiously and nationalistically bigoted anti-Muslim (or Moslem, as they who cannot pronounce anything properly say) culture and climate they have created worldwide? If it were the Al Quaeda we were talking about, they would see nothing wrong in going all out to defeat it, no matter what the cost. And they would not only make this seem acceptable, but noble and ‘right’; their destiny. A huge number of terribly atrocious things are justified because it’s them. But if it’s a third world country, it’s ‘oh poo, these terrible savage natives, they should be taught to care more about people.’

The SLA is guilty of terrible, terrible things. True. But why aren’t the likes of the America helping to diffuse the real situation instead of just sitting up on their moral high-horses and judging everyone?