Sunday, May 10, 2009

Helping a terrorist

MIA, a British-born rapper who's parents are from Sri Lanka and who's father is a terrorist in Sri Lanka, asking Oprah to "help save the Tamils".

OK so I understand a daughter's love for her father. However, as her own Wikipedia article says (link above), her father started EROS, one of the groups that has now become part of the LTTE. Here's a small except from the Wikipedia article on EROS:
In 1976, the EROS established links with the Abu Jihad of the Palestine Liberation Organization and began planning the setting up of camps to train Sri Lankan Tamils in military and guerrilla warfare. EROS even opened up their training camp for the LTTE where Prabhakaran had his initial training. The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), EPRLF and PLOTE sent their own men to the PLO's camps for training under the request of EROS, and EROS also organised for men of other groups to be sent. A number of Tamils, including many who would later form the core of the other Tamil militant groups, started their militant careers in these camps.
So MIA's dad is a "founding member" of EROS, the organization that gave birth to Prabakharan, the leader of LTTE. You want the world to save your dad and his band of criminals?? You want the British and US governments to save them? (See her comment about being within a paper airplane of Michelle Obama:
Michelle Obama gave a speech and there was mad secret service in the air so I didn't get to throw a paper plane at her saying 'stop the bombing of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.'
The LTTE is a banned organization in the UK, US, all of EU and 30+ other countries. Her father is a terrorist. Not only in Sri Lanka but in a large part of the world.

She claims the Sri Lanka is bombing Tamil people. What's really going on is that LTTE is holding a group of innocent people as mobile hostages and getting away with it. Read this article in today's Sunday Leader by Indi, who's an independent journalist in Sri Lanka and Sunday Leader (who's editor was killed a few months back) is a fiercely independent paper usually highly critical of the government, to get better sense of the likely reality.

Sri Lanka is being harassed by the "international community" for trying to save these people. Why? Because of a brilliantly executed PR campaign by LTTE supporters, like MIA, globally. Sorry MIA, your dad is a terrorist. Many people, including myself, strongly support greater autonomy for Tamil people in Sri Lanka (and in fact not just for Tamil people, but for every province outside of the western province), but the LTTE style of killing everyone who's not in agreement is not the way to get it done.

As Indi's article points out, LTTE has mastered yet another form of terrorism: mobile hostage groups, in their thousands. Its only a matter of time before Taliban and others learn the PR power of this type of tactic and do the same. Maybe then the British and US governments will learn the realities of fighting terrorism.

I wonder how the US would react if they had Osama bin Laden cornered and he took a huge number of people hostage and held them and killed anyone who tried to get away. Would the US succumb to "global pressure" and let him get away? Of course not - even this past week their errant US bombs killed maybe 100 civillians and nothing has changed - the fight goes on. In fact, Pakistan was chastised for talking and settling with maniacs! However, the west is attempting to order us to exactly that .. I guess because the LTTE doesn't threaten the west the situation is different eh? Sorry guys, we've been pushed into some unholy alliances that now don't give you the right to do whatever you want with us.

Last week the British and French foreign ministers were here to tell us to stop the war. Apparently in the meeting with our Secretary of Defence, the British FM (Millibrand) got into a HUGE argument and was basically told to get out. Such behavior is simply never done in the diplomatic world, especially by the head diplomat of a country. Apparently Mr. Millibrand acted as if we're still a British colony and he can march in and tell us what to do. Dude, that ended in 1948 .. probably before you were born? We don't play along to your whims and fancies any more.

This week those two are going to be briefing the UN Security Council on their visit. Oh great; we can expect another lecture in a few days. Luckily we have some friends in the security council who won't let us get totally raped. Funny how that veto thing works, eh?

International politics is guided by enlightened self interest. We (and many poor countries) have for a long time operated as if others countries really meant well and they wanted to help us. That is simply naive and we're now learning how to play the game of international politics. About time.

I recently blogged about how maybe we also need to start a "weapons of mass destruction" program so we get international respect. One commentor (apparently someone who knows me), wrote saying I have threatened the US and is now on the DHS terror watch list:
So you don't get support from the USA and the West so you threaten us? Good luck getting back into the USA on your next business trip. I'm sure DHS has picked up your story by now and you've likely made it onto a terror watch list with your threatening comments. A green card does not afford you any rights to re-enter as you please. You may want to remember that before you go spewing off hate comments towards the country that educated you and provided you the lifestyle which you now enjoy.
So fighting to get respect for your own country is threatening the US? That mindset is exactly what is wrong with America today: the thinking that for America to be on top it must prevent others from getting up there. I spent 16 years in the US and learnt a lot of my thinking there ... but America today is not consistent with the human rights and "do no evil" principles on which it was formed. The US government policies and actions are not consistent with the way most Americans think about their role in the world. I will write a long blog about it one of these days ..

Oh and BTW, I no longer have even a green card - I gave that up (voluntarily) nearly 3 years ago and now am on a B-1 visitor visa when I go to the US .. even easier to kick me out. (Of course the real risk to me is of being called an enemy combatant and simply being made to disappear.)

8 comments:

lahiru said...

My God... I'm afraid...but I really really love this post.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree with you.
But, the sad thing is some of our politicians do not understand this reality.

Islander said...

True David Miliband has serious attitude issues.. India, officially logged a complain about his attitude.. anyway no one here take him seriously.. so does Brown's government.. Anyway when US kills civilians it's regrettable and collateral damage.. but when LTTE say Amry does It's human right violations..

Unknown said...

It is a great post.But take care about your safety.Cause our motherland need brains like u.Thank u very much for making us learned about MIA and other hidden issues.Tc

Unknown said...

I usually refrain from commenting on such sensitive articles, but as the article seemed agreeable, I thought of voicing my views.

I agree with you on many, like LTTE's way is not right, the LTTE's attitude of "you are with us or against us" (ahh I heard this somewhere in Colombo too), etc. But wait they are terrorists. They are already banned. They will act how a terrorist is supposed to act. We are supposed to detest them. Yet can we hang an accused twice?

Also I agree most of the tamils are one sided or do not get their facts straight.

Further most of us are in very good terms with other community and personally almost all of my best friends are Sinhalese.

Yet there are few issues I would like to point out.

1. Tamils are not ready to believe in the Government which is not ready to put a solution forward, and a simple example is the liberated east.

2. Will SL people have the wisdom what UK citizens had post-WW2 in choosing their premier?

3. If GOSL is our savior, shouldn't they find alternatives to mass killings and bombings? Forget about foreign news, don't we get the news of deaths from neighbors and friends? When news appears, we all shout that it's a false propaganda. Are all these? Simply take an example. When GOSL published an arial footage, it was accepted by all of us, but when UN leaked, it was a false propaganda? Are we immaculate, to offer justice to another?

4. Finally when west is pressurizing, we are perhaps ready to consider WMD for "gaining some respect". Perhaps LTTE and all liberation organizations thought similarly. Also we call the west callous and say that they have forgotten the fundamentals. But we? We also say anyone voice against GOSL is terrorist! Ahh now I remember "you are with us or against us".

5. Is there any means to address these people. Forget about them, first are we free to open our mouth? If you take an online forum like dailymirror, mostly it was pro-GOSL or some diaspora voicing their views. Any Tamil from SL? Once in a while under an alias. Forget about general public. What happen to these? A bookshop owner for importing a magazine (it is being done for 30 years)! An editor! Oh don't forget about Lasantha.

We like the company of our neighbors. We like to live with our friends. But it is our typical attitude of being averse to criticism. We hate to admit our faults even when it's proven. How can we gain trust when we strive to show ourselves immaculate in words?

We don't understand that the attitude is like a flat tyre. Till we understand that without bending we would't be able to go forward, GOD HELP US ALL!

Wathsala Vithanage said...

Tamil diaspora should be remembered that war comes at a cost, if you believed in an armed struggle as a community then be prepared for it's consequences. It is a winner takes all situation, if LTTE won none of you will be commenting here loudly like you do today bringing out facts. We only heard handful of Tamil voices against LTTE during their golden days.

Finally all the money that Pirabaharan fired did not come from his inherited wealth! it came from the diaspora community for nearly 2 decades, which is enough to pension all the Sri Lankan Tamils at a standard of living never dreamed of (according to Jane's Intelligence). How could a person or a community believe in a political solution while funding a brutal war for a separate state? The sum of the money collected by diaspora community justifies the argument. Therefore it is so naive to say that Tamils can not believe the government of Sri Lanka as it has not brought forward a political solution. They just can't believe the government because they still believe and value other crap like Eelam, refugee status in western countries, etc.

Hope our government will rescue these people whose minds have been taken hostage by various factors, just as our armed forces rescue their kith and kin taken hostage by the LTTE.

sammybull said...

So, after years of searching and many atrocities, if we corner Osama bin Laden and he surrounds himself with thousands of Muslim civilians are we going to let him go? By reffering to UN and would the USA and UK ask for a ceasefire????

The only time these people make a noise is when they are losing.
When they are killing inocent civilians and terrorising women and children they keep quiet. All power to the government troops in their quest for a stable country..

The "Tigers" are cornered in a tiny spit of land. Why on earth would the Sri Lankan military target civilians now, when they are about to win the war ? Sounds like "Paliwood" to me

Vijit said...

Sanjeewa. You make absolute sense. In fact I have been corresponding with several people in the west and have myself used the Al Quaeda comparison as well as the collaratal (drone induced) damage argument. Your argument is very logical, yet astounding that educated *&^%s like Miliband and Clinton can't even recognise their own obvious hypocracy. Actually the same can be said about Blake, who will be Clinton's mouthpiece (certainly not mouthpeace) in South Asia.