Military or Diplomatic Action is the question

There seems to be an interesting tussle developing between military action and diplomacy in Sri Lanka. The main proponents of the two stances, incidentally are members of the Sri Lanka government.

DefenceWire's sources indicated that Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse is pushing for an immediate clean wipe-out of the LTTE surrounded in the NFZ whilst President Rajapakse is more in favour of a diplomatic approach to precede military action in this final phase.

This does not mean that the President is not in favour of wiping out the LTTE, but is more sensitive towards existing diplomatic alternatives before exploring the military option in full. While both approaches have their merit, a few senior military and political advisors are arguing for a mixed approach.

While planning for a military onslaught continues, field commanders emphasized the need to drain out at least another 50,000 civilians from the NFZ before any military action is to take place. This they say could happen within the next few weeks. A government delegation is to leave for Kilinochchi shortly to examine the capacity of the security forces to welcome such a large number of civilians.

Meanwhile diplomatic relations between Norway and Sri Lanka has been strained particularly over a recent attack by LTTE supporters on the Sri Lanka Embassy in Norway and also due to concerns expressed by the security sector that certain diplomatic missions are misinterpreting or spreading misinformation regarding recent military actions. If these strains are to continue, the activities of local human rights lobby groups who are on the payroll of these embassies could also be investigated.

A particular group in the government is pressing for the severing of diplomatic ties with a few of these countries while others expressed a more cautious approach. The military pointed-out that it had all the international support it needs to continue from countries like China, Pakistan and Russia. Political entities highlight the need to also engage the powerful countries not fully backing the operations to avoid international (western) isolation.