'Victory day not far off'- An interview with the Army Chief, Gen.
Sarath Fonseka
Days of pampering "Arm
- Chair' Generals Over:
 Agreeing
that the national problem could only be solved through political means,
the Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka said that not only Tamils but
also Sinhalese and the Muslims need political solutions to solve some of
their problems.
He said that the political solution should be
completely different from what the LTTE and the Tamil National Alliance
(TNA) were clamouring for. Their ultimate goal is to destroy Sinhalese
as was revealed by the 'Eelam Pandiyan' cadres, who had surrendered
earlier."
They admitted that they were motivated by the LTTE
during their training period not only to kill the Sinhalese soldiers but
also the Sinhalese people as well".
The Army Commander said that numerous problems faced
by the innocent Tamils in the North and East due to LTTE terrorism would
not be solved by making R. Sampanthan or someone else the Prime Minister
of the so-called Eelam.
Welcoming President Mahinda Rajapaksa's invitation to
the LTTE to resume peace talks provided they lay down their arms, the
Army chief assured that the Army's forward march to liberate Wanni would
continue without any hindrance.
Commenting on recent allegation on the attack on the
media, Lt. Gen. Fonseka said that he has a huge military arm with a
strength of over 162, 000 men who have been trained to kill but not to
assault.
"Certain media personnel, who have been misled by
certain disgruntled military officials, do not write in the interest of
the people and the country. How can they demand media freedom when they
do not follow basic ethics", he queried.
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LTTE's route to ferry across ordnance is blocked with
the capture of Vidathalathivu.
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Some more LTTE controlled areas to be captured before
NCP elections.
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President and the government will no doubt deserve the
credit for the military victories.
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LTTE avoid confrontations with the military to
minimize their casualties.
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LTTE have lost over 9,000 cadres in the last two years
and 3000 have been forcibly conscripted.
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LTTE Leader Prabhakaran is good as dead and is too old
to command a terrorist outfit.
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Prabhakaran's true nature shows when he kills unarmed
civilians whenever defeat stares at his face.
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Army never had an overall strategy earlier to fight
and capture LTTE controlled areas.
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The strength of the Sri Lanka Army has risen from
118,000 to 162,000, with a reserve of 12,000 well trained soldiers in
the North.
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The Army was not responsible for the attack on Keith
Noyair.
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Some disgruntled high ranking military officials
provide misleading information to the media.
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Top Army officers are frustrated because their
personal welfare is not looked after at the expense of Army welfare.
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Officers who ran away from Mullaithivu, Kilinochchi
and Elephant Pass battle fronts are senior Generals in the Army now
today.
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Excerpts:
Q: What is the strategic importance of
Vidathalativu and what would be the impact on the LTTE which had lost
its main Sea Tiger base after 18 years of control?
A: Vidathalathivu was a major Sea Tiger base in
the Western coast, where most of the sea operations of the LTTE were
launched. They maintained this base to smuggle in arms and ammunition
from India via the Mannar islands.
Now all their operations in the West are blocked and
have to operate from Nachchikuda side, where the movements are quite
difficult. The main thrust has now reached very close to Thunukai. The
Kokkadival and Kadavan have to be captured to protect the Western flank.
Q: But the Opposition has claimed, that
Vidathalativu, was abandoned by the LTTE some weeks ago and now
dominated by the military, has become a show piece to get political
mileage during the forthcoming North Central Provincial elections?
A: I feel the Opposition must be conducting
some reconnaissance missions in these areas. The military is no doubt
entitled to get a political mileage especially after capturing areas
like Vidathalathivu and Mannar.
Most probably we will capture many more places before
the elections. Are they expecting us to sit and wait until the elections
are over? We would like to know who the people are keep monitoring our
movements from their houses.
Q: They also claim that the Army helps the
government to take political mileage through some of these military
victories. How do you see these allegations?
A: The President of the country being the
Commander in Chief is entitled to get the credit for all these military
victories. He is the one who takes decisions and responsibilities of
launching these major offensives. Wars are launched by the governments
and credit of its success will naturally go to the government and not to
the Opposition.
Do they expect the Army to lose these battles and face
reversals? So, then the credit will not go to the government like what
had happened in the past.
Q: You have set deadlines to capture Wanni in
the past and also gave an assurance of a turning point in August. Is the
military ready to go for this target now or do you have to reset another
time-frame?
A: No, I never gave specific deadlines as such
but what I said was that I will here to capture Wanni during my tenure
of office. And, I never said as to when I will be finishing my term.
That depends on how long the President wants me to serve. I will do my
best to finish it within a reasonable time.
I don't think any layman would ever think of capturing
such a massive area killing 8,000 to 9,000 terrorists in the process
within an year. We captured Vidathalathivu and the troops have advanced
3kms within a day.
In Chirandikulam we killed 25 terrorists few weeks
ago. Now we have seven km north of Chiraddikulam and three km in the
south of Thunukkai.
The changes are taking place in the battle fronts. The
Army could not move even 100 metres further up and we fought for months
to inch forward. But now the troops are getting into a faster mode. We
had only 12 casualties last week whereas those days there used to over
40 soldiers who get killed.
Now they do not confront us as earlier, where we were
able to kill more than 150 terrorists a week. Last week only 15
terrorists were killed. The LTTE is avoiding confrontations with us as
they do not want to suffer high number of casualties. They have now
changed their way of confronting us.
Q: Isn't this pattern changing because that
they are facing a severe shortage of manpower?
A: Yes, that has resulted to a greater extent.
They have lost over 9,000 in the last two years. The number of cadres
were killed in the East was over 2,000, then over 1,000 in Jaffna, 3,000
in Wanni, over 2,000 in Mannar, and over 1,000 in Weli Oya. The Air
Force has killed about a 1,000 and the Navy has killed 329. These
official figures were officially released at the last Security Council
meeting.
The total number of casualties is very high. According
to intelligence there are over 5,000 cadres in the North including their
political cadres, home guards in bunkers and Nadeshan's cadres. The LTTE
has recruited over 3,000 people forcibly. The quality of their fighting
has deteriorated.
In addition to the shortage of manpower, the LTTE
lacks leaders, after the death of their so called leaders, Anton
Balasingham, Tamilselvam and Balaraj. Prabakaran is as good as dead and
is too old to lead a terrorist outfit. Normally terrorist leaders are
aggressive and young people. So the LTTE is fighting a losing battle
while the Sri Lankan military is becoming stronger day by day.
Q: According to a certain media, the number of
LTTE cadres killed is different from the figures that you give. So some
claim that it is a numbers game to continue with the war. What do you
have to say ?
A: The Army gets these numbers from our
intelligence by listening to the LTTE transmissions. After every
confrontation, the LTTE updates these numbers and they are not decided
by the Army.
In Vidathalathivu, the LTTE has lost over 30
terrorists and these numbers are confirmed by their transmissions.
People who claim that this is a numbers game are the ones who believe
that the terrorists, and also have more faith in the LTTE than the Sri
Lankan Army.
Q: You have said that the LTTE's days are
numbered. How confident are you that you can eliminate the LTTE before
the end of your tenure?
A: Yes, why I say that their days are numbered
is by comparing what had happened during the last two years. In the last
two years they have lost territories, the East and now Mannar. Over
1,200 square km area in the North have now been captured. This same
trend was there for two years when we liberated the East and the same
will followed until we capture the North.
LTTE has lost two thirds of its manpower and a large
stock of weapons including 2,500 rifles and other heavy weapons. They
are running out of arms now. As the fighting is going round the clock
the LTTE could not remain without ammunition and weapons to face us. So,
I don't think that the LTTE can keep pace with this schedule. It is an
impossible task for them.
Q: How do you assess the input of the
intelligence services? Are they more efficient than it was some years
ago?
A: Yes, at the moment they are doing a
tremendous job. In the past when we were in the field we did not have
confidence in their services. They were actually doing basically, 'post
mortems' on the movements of terrorists and how their planned attack.
Now the situation has changed and we can rely on them
who give us accurate intelligence information on terrorist activities,
their strength and possible actions that they may resort to. We revamped
the intelligence services with some important changes.
Q: Innocent people in Yala still come under
LTTE attacks. Why has the military failed to capture the LTTE terrorists
who have a free run in Yala?
A: It is a long 90 km stretch of jungle
terrain, with a width of 40 km from Yala to Kanchikuddichchiaru in the
Eastern Province towards Ampara. The group which had shot at the bus was
the same group that had fired at the Army patrol in Panama about a month
ago.
They have used the same weapons this time as well.
When they are defeated they use very cheap tactics under the
instructions of Prabhakaran, who has never being humane. After the Army
clears the Kanchikuddichchi area, the STF will set up new camps in this
area to deter them. We have already taken steps with the STF to hunt
them.
Q: You have taken part in almost all the major
military operations in the last 25 years. Where do you think that we had
failed and why?
A: We had failed due to many reasons. The main
reason was the Army did not have an overall strategy to fight and
capture the LTTE controlled areas. We were only going for very limited
operations. We launched offensives without aiming to capture Jaffna and
there were no plans to liberate the East.
We commenced operation 'Jayasikuru' and fought for
three years without a proper plan to eliminate LTTE cadres from that
area. We merely captured camps. We were limited only to certain
operations like the rescue of Jaffna Fort or the Elephant Pass. The Army
started Eelam war I and II just to rescue camps.
At that time we did not have plans to deploy troops to
hold on to these camps. While we were conducting operations in the North
the Army vacated all the camps in the East. When I was the Brigade
Commander, Welikanda, I remember how we vacated Mavil Aru, Vakarai and
Kadiraweli in 1993 and in 1994 because we were attacked from the Punani
- Valaichchenai road.
Today, we have an overall plan and this plan did not
come up from nowhere. We worked very hard, trained troops, then created
over 40 new battalions, and then we have deployed over 8,000 additional
troops in the East. And we have a reserve about 12,000 in the North,
where we had only 1500 earlier.
In Wanni, Mannar and Weli Oya, over 13,000 troops are
going on the offensive operations. We have filled almost all the
vacancies. The Sri Lanka Army which had a force strength of 118,000 has
now gone upto 162,000.
We have put lots of efforts on training and the
expansion of the Army. Although we are fighting in Mannar, Weli Oya and
Vavuniya we are also planning ahead to capture Kilinochchi or
Mullaithivu. The top officials of the Army do not sit in well secured
offices and give them orders. Guidelines are very clear and don't give
impossible tasks, so the soldiers are going ahead with lots of
confidence.
Q: The Chief Opposition Whip, Joseph Michael
Perera has accused you of having a special squad to attack media
personnel who are critics of the military. Is there any truth in what he
says"?
A: I have a large force operating with a
strength of 162, 000 who have been trained to kill and not to assault.
He who says all these things must furnish all the details to the police
if he has all the information. I think he has lots of sympathy for me.
No point in him talking inside the Parliament, where nobody is going to
take any action. As far as what he has mentioned all what I can say is
that these are baseless allegations.
Q: But it is reported that the Army is behind
the attack on Keith Noyair of The Nation newspaper who had written a
military story criticizing the military few weeks before the attack.
What do you have to say about this allegation?
A: How many other journalists write political
or military columns? Why should the Army attack only on Keith Noyair. I
have never seen anywhere that Keith Noyair had said that the Army had
attacked him. Some people are trying to put us against him. He has never
accused that the Army had assaulted him. And I think perhaps he is
guilty that he has done something wrong by writing against the military.
Q: Is he tight-lipped because he is supposed to
be in fear of reprisals?
A: If he has not done anything wrong, he does
not have to live in fear. If he has done some damage to our organisation
or to a person, especially when he has done something which he is not
suppose to do, then it is natural he must be living in fear. If they
think that they have done something of that nature the best thing for
them is to correct themselves and rectify the mistake.
Q: What is the role you expect the media to
play during the time of war?
A: War or no war, the media should write in the
interest of the country and not to please their favourites. The media is
supposed to play a neutral role to educate people. They are not supposed
to create situations where they groom people and make heroes out of
them. I do not think that certain media in this country is doing their
duty with a sense of responsibility.
We know that they are being bribed, given 'drinks',
treated in restaurants and they have their own vested interests. And is
it ethical them to go for agendas misleading people?.
These so called media guys are not responsible to the
people and they are not entitled to such media freedom. Media freedom is
there for you to do the right thing and to be fair by everybody. Nobody
has given freedom for anybody to drive their own agendas. We know very
well about those media people who take bribes, write and voice their
opinion for some personal gains.
That Keith Noyair who was assaulted was returning from
a restaurant with his friends and they were drunk. We do not know that
somebody in the restaurant had got annoyed with them, followed him and
assaulted.
So, especially the media people should behave well and
set an example to others. To me, those who stage protests with unshaven
beards, long hairs and wearing costumes like in fancy dress competitions
are not scribes who are clamouring for media freedom but a gang of
thugs.
Q: Journalists too have the right to stage
protests demanding media freedom, justice and their appearance seems to
immaterial. Can you deny that right?
A: They can stage their protests in a decent
way. I do not mind learning from them if they can behave properly.
Behaving like thugs! Is that what you call media freedom? They can talk
if some thing goes wrong in the interest of people and the country. They
can point it out. I am ready to learn from those who have a sense of
responsibility towards national interest.
Q: Some media organisations claim that the
military wants to cover up reality in the name of war. What is your
comment?
A: I hope I have explained the reality of some
of the media people in this country. Those who are criticising on the
progress that the Army has made, by confining to their editorials can
come with us to have a look at most of the bunkers.
It is a shame that some of these journalists who
criticize the military have never gone beyond Madawachchiya. When the
offensives were going on in the East they had never stepped beyond
Manampitiya.
This is how they write their criticisms claiming the
military assault and the media to cover up the reality. So, we can
arrange these media personnel to listen to terrorist transmissions. But
they have to write what exactly that they listen to.
Meanwhile, I want warn these media guys to beware of
those disgruntled high ranking military officials. They are the ones who
are leaking out misleading information to the media. We know about them
and have sidelined them now.
Q: There is a claim that certain top military
officials are frustrated as they are not getting their due promotions.
What are the steps taken to rectify the situation?
A: Yes, they are frustrated because we are now
not looking after them. I want the Army to look after the welfare of the
country. Our army officers can not walk around like US or British Army
officers.
These people are frustrated because I am not going out
of my way to look after their welfare at the expenses of the Army
welfare. If I put a weak man to command a division and thereby sacrifice
hundreds of soldiers like what happened in Mullaithivu, Elephant Pass
and Killinochchi.
Then I will be really looking after them. Those who
ran away leaving their command posts in Mullaithivu, kilinochchi and
Elephant Pass are senior Generals in the Army now. Their welfare have
been perfectly looked after that time. But who looked after the welfare
of those who died and went missing? Do they want me to do the same? No,
I will never do that.
Those who can't produce results will not be looked
after and the only way that I can help them is by helping them to get a
job outside. Because, there are lots of jobs for retiring Generals and
Brigadiers.
There are others in the Army who deal with anti-war
NGOs and the media to insult the Army. These are the people who leak
information and pass the wrong information to create unfortunate
situations.
So the media should be careful about these disgruntled
top military officials. I am not occupying this seat merely to look
after those failured officers.
Q: President Mahinda Rajapaksa has reiterated
the willingness to resume talks with the LTTE, if they lay down their
arms. Do you think that holding peace talks is necessary when the LTTE
is getting cornered?
A: Yes, only if they lay down arms and come for
peace talks after totally stopping terror activities. In such an
environment, the President's willingness to negotiate with the LTTE is
absolutely a correct decision.
Q: If the LTTE accept the condition to commence
peace talks will the military be confined to the barracks?
A: That will never happen. They can continue
with the Talks but we will clear the North. The President had never said
that forward march of the Army to liberate the North will have to stop.
Our troops will carry on.
Q: We can achieve military victories against
LTTE terrorism. But do you agree that the national problem can be solved
only through political means?
A: Yes, I think the whole country needs some
political changes to solve certain problems. So these political
solutions have to come not only for Tamils but for all the communities.
Some Tamil political, especially the couple of TNA MPs
who say some thing here and utter differently when in the LTTE
controlled areas may have some serious political problems which no one
can address as their aspirations are totally different.
In those war torn areas the people are facing
tremendous hardships.
The damage due to war is huge and they do not have
better infrastructure like roads and bridges like in other areas. People
are uneducated and children are suffering from malnutrition.
These problems cannot be solved by making R.
Sampanthan or somebody else the Prime Minister of the so-called Eelam.
These people need solution for these problems.
Courtesy : Sunday Observer
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