http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201010/20101018military_skills_deployed_humanitarian_purposes.htm


Monday, October 18, 2010 - 06.31 GMT
Military skills now deployed for humanitarian purposes – Defence Secretary

The military skills that won the war are now being redeployed for other purposes. For instance, the navy is working on re-establishing long neglected centuries-old canals built by the Dutch in Colombo, which would help prevent flooding stated Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in an interview with The Australian.'The navy is also helping, including by training young people, to rehabilitate the fishing industry. The air force is doing civilian transport work'.Now, in the north, the Tamil heartland, of 300,000 people involved in the conflict, 90 per cent have been resettled, and 70 per cent of the area de-mined, he said."We have to develop the country, to improve living standards. We want everybody to live peacefully as Sri Lankans, not as Singhalese or Tamils or Muslims,"he added.Defence Secretary said the Tigers are "no longer capable of military operations, but elements remain, including overseas, that are trying to regroup, and we have to be very vigilant. Now we need to bring stability and economic growth."Considerable effort is being made to develop the naval capacity to intercept any arms and munitions. "They are not being made here, so anyone who wants to cause trouble has to bring them by sea."Rajapaksa said China and India are "old friends" of the country. "Whatever their own differences, both have been very helpful to us over the years."Their help in building Sri Lanka's economy will now become especially important, he said.Sri Lanka has long had free education and health, and with 84 per cent literacy, Rajapaksa said it is time to build further, including hi-tech.He is disappointed with the extent of criticism from Western countries during the war, but said that was inevitable given that Tiger cadres had become a force abroad.But gradually that is changing as Tamils overseas begin to express support for rebuilding the country, he said.The reasons for the failure of eight governments comprising both main parties to conclude the war through five presidencies, were legion: military, political, diplomatic, social, he further said.All the services co-operated. The navy did jungle fighting, the air force protected supply routes. "We raised nearly 150 battalions," he said: all volunteers, no conscription. "We had a lot of casualties during this period," the final four-year stage of the war with almost 6000 troops killed and 20,000 injured. "But we always replenished the forces."Rajapaksa emphasised this was "a large scale terrorist war" in which the Tigers, who fought to establish a separate state in the north and east, at one time controlled a third of the country. It was the first terrorist group to have its own naval and air wings as well as army. But its leadership is gone."We had a very professional military, with very committed officers. We had won all the major battles, but were unable to finish the war. Some might think it a silly thing to say, but a key factor in our victory was my being the brother of the president. I was able to present him with the whole picture," he said in an interview with the Australian.The first reason for failure was that the military lacked the numbers needed to hold areas it had won. Naturally, said Rajapaksa, any other defence secretary would have aroused suspicion when he asked for the tripling of troop numbers, as he did.But being his brother, the president "didn't have anything to worry about on my account". Rajapaksa wasn't about to start a coup."I can very well remember telling him about the tripling. He said, 'if that's what you need to finish this, that's what we'll do'."No new military units were established. But the resources were raised significantly. "So we could also fight on a wider front."The Tigers, he said, "always tried to inflict many casualties, then withdraw. They knew that when the military moved on, they could come back, it was never ending. Now, we could hold the ground."Previously, as the war dragged on, recruitment had become a problem. But the Defence Secretary said his brother's single-minded leadership helped attract more young men to the military. "He said we wouldn't stop half-way this time."The second decisive factor in winning was working closely with India, the Defence Secretary said."Any other country, we could ignore." But India, which has 16 million Tamils, always retained a capacity to influence the outcome.The final key factor in winning the war, Mr. Rajapaksa said, was to plan a humanitarian operation in parallel with the military one."Civilians would get caught in between. We considered how to supply food and medicine, and evacuate them if needed. How to look after displaced people, to resettle them, to de-mine districts."A humanitarian committee was established at the start of the final military drive, involving UN organisations and key ambassadors, non-government organisations, and government heads."We couldn't get this 100 per cent right. But if we hadn't attended to it, the situation would have been much, much worse."Sri Lanka now joins a tiny list of countries whose governments have succeeded against determined guerilla opponents waging long-standing campaigns. The victory in Malaysia against the 12-year communist insurgency, ended in 1960, is the only comparable case in Asia, the Australian said.