LTTE Declaration of its commitment to Terrorism

So the LTTE has spoken, after all it seems the LTTE is in shock over the loss of Thoppigala. And this is no more evident in the resent statement by S.P Thamilchelvam, the Political head of LTTE.

In a statement, seen as more as an LTTE reiteration of its commitment to terrorism, Thamilchelvam has gone on to state that the LTTE will effectively engage against the Sri Lankan government and use whatever means to destroy and destabilize the Sri Lankan military.

"(We will) weaken the military capacity of the government of Sri Lanka, which will invariably end up hitting economic targets as well," Thamilchelvam told The Associated Press, declining to elaborate , yesterday 12th July, from their hideout deep in the jungles of Killinochchi.
However, far more ground breaking and what is seen more of a reiteration to its commitment to use of terrorism is more than ever evident in Thamilchelvam's statement where he claimed the LTTE will hit major economic and military targets, in an aim to cripple the economy of Sri Lanka.

Not only this is a indication of the LTTE's mounting loses but also the fact that the LTTE is facing a desperate situation in terms of not only saving face but also long its so called military 'might'.

There is not much to be surprised over Thamilchelvams statement, as the LTTE over its three decades of violence has been using tactics of terror against all kinds of targets, not only restricted to Military and Military related .

The LTTE has actively targeted civilian centres and government locations, serving purely Civil Administrative tasks. The LTTE has, over the period bombed several locations in Colombo, all Public, including bomb attacks in Maradana, Dehiwala Railway station and Central Bank. Moreover, the LTTE has attacked and crippled the only International Air Port in Sri Lanka, Katunayake International Airport .

Therefore Thamilchelvam's rhetoric of a bloodbath is some what unfounded, but then the important point here is that the LTTE after many years of waging open warfare has suddenly decided to revert to its age old tactics of terrorism.
This is how the LTTE is distinguishes from the rest of the worlds territories organisations, as they effectively identify economic targets as legitimate targets.

But when you consider economic sites in a free country, they are also centres of civilian concentration, and since we don't have the Military running economic sites and institutions, hence, any target against an economic site or concentration should be also considered a target against a civilian centre. Therefore, LTTE's claim of its intention to attack economic targets can be interpreted as a statement of its intent to attack the civilians of this country.
As the desperation mounts within LTTE hierarchy and its search for scapegoats and ghost within, there will be more and more pressure mounting on the LTTE hierarchy to address the issue of losing face and loss of moral both within the fighting cadres and its international network of financiers. Therefore, considering the LTTE's performance in the past and the tactics and strategies employed it is quite evident that the LTTE, given the opportunity will strike civilian targets.

Important question is what will the government does in terms of addressing this threat and also what will be the reaction of the so called 'international community' over such threats and attacks.

As for the government, the MR administration has over the past have embarked on a more stringent security measures over LTTE targeting of civilians, however such attempts were mostly centered on key urban areas in Colombo ,outskirts and other main population centres and not in rural areas , especially in LTTE threat areas. While the security of the citizenry is paramount to the government, civil liberties and freedom must not be scarified in the name of countering LTTE terror.

Consequently, any increase in security measures will be an added advantage to the Colombo based 'Civil Society' and its 'crusade' against the (only) Governments so called 'human rights' abuses. While the 'Civil Society' focuses its sights on the activities of the government and ignore grave violations of all rights know to man by the LTTE, it will use any stringent security measures as an epitome of bad governance and lack of respect for Human Rights.

As for the international community , they need to understand the LTTE threat to attack economic targets, vis a vis Civilian targets as a greave threat against not only Sri Lankan's living in non-LTTE controlled areas but also against any country that has a LTTE or Pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora presence.although LTTE has never (at least not recorded) carried out a major attack against civilians in foreign countries, it has a long and bloody record of carrying out a low intensity campaign of violence against Tamils living in Western countries , who oppose activities of the LTTE.

Resent bombings in London and capture of massive loads of explosives en-route to Colombo in few parts of Sri Lanka are some of the grim reminders of LTTE's commitment to use of terror against civilians and S.P Thamilchelvams statement to the effect of attacking economic/civilian targets is a declaration of LTTE's reiteration towards its commitment in use of violence and murder, or basically terrorism as a alternative against peaceful dialogue. For the LTTE peaceful dialogue or peace talks is not a viable option but an opportunity to seek an impasse to engage in terrorism against the people of Sri Lanka.