Summary
NO counterinsurgency war was ever fought without civilians finding themselves caught up in the thick of the fighting. Just look at what's been happening in Iraq or Gaza, or go back further into history and ask the people of Cyprus, or Northern Ireland. Now it's the turn of some quarter of a million Sri Lankans who will be spending this weekend in a war zone in the northeast of this beautiful country, where government forces are making one last push to try to defeat the rebel fighters of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Last week the strategically important choke-point of Elephant Pass fell into the hands of the government forces, as did Kilinochchi, the LTTE's main administrative centre. It seemed to be game over for the Tamil Tigers - as the separatists are better known. The pass carries the main causeway linking the Jaffna peninsular to the Sri Lankan mainland, and its loss means government forces can now be re-supplied directly instead of relying on expensive and complicated reinforcement by sea and air.See the full content of this document
Extract
War Hurts Everyone . . .Especially Civilians Realpolitik
Its capture was also important symbolically, as it seemed to join north and south once more and, in so doing, end LTTE aspirations of a separate Tamil homeland.
That's what Pres...See the full content of this document
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