Spin-a-war: how international media spin feeds a civil war in Sri

by Romayne | May 21, 2009 at 01:34 pm
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http://www.russiatoday.com/Politics/2009-04-23/Spin-a-war__how_international_media_spin_feeds_a_civil_war_in_Sri_Lanka.html

Spin-a-war: how international media spin feeds a civil war in Sri Lanka
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We can only imagine American satisfaction if we had al Qaeda in this position. It is unconscionable for the United States to castigate its Sri Lankan ally for prevailing in its war against terrorism. The Tamil Tigers have purposefully created the conditions for a humanitarian crisis and deserve neither amnesty nor mercy. There are ways to help resolve this standoff that will not allow the Tigers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, such as providing military and intelligence support for pinpoint strikes against the terrorist leadership. Failing that, the Obama administration should mind its own business. The Sri Lankans are winning; we should let them finish the job.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil-Elam in Sri-Lanka are about to be wiped out by the state army. The end of the long-fought civil war is in sight. But victory may not come so easily as international media joins the game.

Its April 2009 and the government armed forces of Sri Lanka are about to finish off the Liberation Tigers of Tamil-Elam (LTTE). The end of one more long-fought civil war is in sight. But the victory may not come so easily to the Sinhalese-dominated government of the paradise island: the international community, answering to street protests in support of the Tamils all over Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand, may decide to do something about the rapid advance of the Sri Lankan Army. International media have already loudly pronounced the key word: genocide.

In the 1990s some international publications were already unknowingly or knowingly supporting the Tigers. The Tamils were seen as global wanderers without a roof over their heads, who needed accommodation and comfort from their better-off brothers and sisters in the West, while the Tigers appeared as the fighters for their freedom which no one had ever taken away from them in the first place. In fact, it was a rare newspaper that wrote then of the laws that these people were breaking.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils were shipped to Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand from 1990 1996. Now most of them are already citizens of the countries that adopted them, and their children were born Canadians, Americans, Britons
And most of them continue their material support of the Tigers to this day. The overseas organization of the Tigers tightly controls the ethnic Tamil communities abroad.

A few more unexpected discoveries
Most of the above mentioned facts either escaped the attention of the international media or was lost in the flow of everyday news from other places. Like some other facts did too: for instance, the fact that there are quite a few Tamils in the Sri Lankan government, in the army fighting the Tigers and in the civil service. These Tamils risk their lives every day because they, called traitors by the Tigers, are even more frequent targets for terrorist attacks than the Sinhalese officials.

At this moment, while the media shouts genocide! and the Liberation Tigers leadership has most probably left the island, scores of girls with those special belts around their waists may be walking the roads of Sri Lanka looking for targets. Or worse they have orders to wait till the governments
victory is complete and then bring terror and death to the peaceful cities down South.

Even the use of Tamil civilians as human shields by the Tigers is reported topsy-turvy: the Tigers deny doing that, so they arent. But who then keeps those civilians in between the advancing government troops and the positions of the Tigers? For the advancing force they are an obstacle. Or maybe our distinguished colleagues only want to show the government soldiers as monsters taking pleasure in killing civilians?

Give peace a true chance!
This war has known every kind of effort for peace. It never worked. There cannot be peace between the Tigers of Tamil Elam and the government of Sri Lanka. There can only be peace between the government and the Tamil people in the North of the island, peace between the Sinhalese majority and all the minorities including the Tamils. That is what history says, and she is a very tough-minded old lady.

What are the international media doing there then, trying to prolong the conflict? To let the LTTE breathe and gain a bit of strength to fight back? Is that the purpose? Is elimination of one of the most notorious terrorist organizations in the world against the interests of the world community?

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Jarrett Martineau
Jarrett Martineau
flagged this story as Needs Improvement

at 13:44 on May 21st, 2009

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Jarrett Martineau
First Flagged at 1:44 PM, May 21, 2009 by Jarrett Martineau

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