Pertinent observation

Pertinent observation
President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a very pertinent observation during his address to the Nation on Friday when Sri Lanka marked the first anniversary of Victory Day.
He said “It is time for the countries facing terrorist attacks to look back and see where they have gone wrong. It is a grave error of judgement to think that while opposing terrorism targeting you, to believe that terrorism that is no threat to you is good”.
Since the beginning of the Eelam war, many a road block was placed in our efforts to vanquish terrorism mainly by the West. India too on many occasions stymied our military efforts while not hesitating to use the iron fist against secessionist groups on its own soil.
Had it not blocked the Army’s victorious march to Vadamarachchi through its infamous parippu drop, Prabhakaran would have been captured. As it was he lived to order the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi who made that costly blunder.
As the President said, countries that show sympathy towards terrorism or separatism will be victims of terrorism. This is a lesson of history.
Today, this mistake is being made by others in the West who are attempting to help in the rebirth of the LTTE in different forms and guises. Cries of war crimes are being made in an attempt to punish a Government which was only acting within its legitimate right to protect the sovereignty of the country. Would any of the leaders of these countries dug in their toes look on idly had their territorial integrity and sovereignty been threatened? It is time that the international community stop wearing blinkers and view the threat that confronted Sri Lanka in its true perspective.No leader of a country can look by when the very survival of his country as a nation is threatened. He is obliged to defend its territorial integrity with might and main. This is exactly what President Rajapaksa did.
It is an open secret that those countries which lectured and hectored us on the futility of a military solution were the very ones who were using all the modern weaponry at their disposal to fight terrorism in their own backyard or to tackle terrorism in countries they had invaded.Indiscriminate aerial attacks were carried out in densely populated areas causing mass civilian deaths, in the name of ferreting out terrorists.
These States were not threatened by dismemberment as Sri Lanka did ,that warranted such surgical strikes. They were battling terrorism to protect their vested interests in alien territory. For this, they deployed their full might not giving a tuppence for collateral damage or accusations of genocide.
But when Sri Lanka was fighting a back to the wall battle to liquidate a terrorist outfit which was threatening her territorial sovereignty there were howls of protests from these same quarters.It appeared the sauce for the goose was not sauce for the gander.
It is such duplicity and double standards that the President was alluding to.The war waged in Sri Lanka was not with designs of expansionism. It was to deliver a community from the clutches of a ruthless band of terrorists and to protect the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
It is to the eternal credit of President Rajapaksa that he did not pay heed to these sermons by leaders who had blood on their own hands, and dealt with terrorism the only way it should be dealt with.
Sri Lanka’s victory over terrorism is still the talking point in many countries. Although they hate to admit it there is grudging admiration for this achievement by some while others are yet astounded by the feat.Time was when chances of victory against the most ruthless band of terrorists in the world was viewed with pessimism.
Leave aside the foreign countries, even the five star generals in our midst deemed the war as unwinnable. But our Armed Forces defied all odds and achieved what was deemed impossible.
In his speech to mark the first anniversary of the Victory Day President Rajapaksa said some countries who are battered by terrorism have taken strength and courage from Sri Lanka’s victory. True, today even those countries who looked with pessimism on Sri Lanka’s chances of victory are seeking our expertise to tackle terrorism on their own soil.
Isn’t this an admission that Sri Lanka took the correct course