The Washington Times says US should keep its nose out of Colombo's
business
Warning America is taking the wrong side in undermining Sri Lanka
(By Walter Jayawardhana)
The Washington Times sternly told the US State
Department in an editorial that America should support the Sri Lankan
government or keep its nose out of Colombo's business commenting about
the possible war crimes report on the island nation submitted to the
Congress last week.
Alleging the US is taking the wrong side in the
anti-terror fight and it is undermining the island nation the strongly
worded editorial in no uncertain words said, "Sri Lanka is joining
Israel as a country facing a war crimes investigation for effectively
fighting back against terrorism. America should support the Sri Lankan
government or keep its nose out of Colombo's business."
The editorial attacked the report as a list of
allegations rather than a fully document indictment: "The Rapp report is
not comprehensive, more a list of allegations than a fully documented
indictment. Most of the offenses listed are either directly attributable
to the Tamil Tigers, such as forcibly recruiting children to fight for
them, or the consequence of terrorist activities, such as Sri Lanka
shelling hospitals being used by the Tigers as command posts."
The following is the full text of the editorial: "Sri
Lanka is joining Israel as a country facing a war crimes investigation
for effectively fighting back against terrorism. America should support
the Sri Lankan government or keep its nose out of Colombo's business.
"Last week, Stephen Rapp, U.S. ambassador-at-large for
war crimes issues, filed a report to Congress on incidents during the
recent conflict in Sri Lanka that "may constitute violations of
international humanitarian law or crimes against humanity." The report
focuses in particular on January to May 2009 when, after 12 years of
conflict, the Sri Lankan military surrounded and destroyed the major
armed formations of the Tamil Tigers and killed the terrorist group's
leaders.
"The report chronicles allegations of war crimes by
both Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, the Vermont
Democrat whose subcommittee on the State Department and foreign
operations requested the report, is calling for "a full and independent
investigation" so those responsible can be "held accountable."
"The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights joined in the call for an investigation of Sri Lanka's
war, saying there are "too many questions" left unanswered. U.N. Human
Rights Spokesman Rupert Colville drew a direct comparison to the Gaza
Fact-Finding Mission overseen by South African Judge Richard Goldstone.
Sri Lanka and Israel are both pursuing internal investigations and have
rejected the idea of international involvement in the process.
"The Rapp report is not comprehensive, more a list of
allegations than a fully documented indictment. Most of the offenses
listed are either directly attributable to the Tamil Tigers, such as
forcibly recruiting children to fight for them, or the consequence of
terrorist activities, such as Sri Lanka shelling hospitals being used by
the Tigers as command posts.
"The tone of moral equivalence in the Rapp and
Goldstone reports is most objectionable. War is by its nature violent,
complex and tragic. Rules exist to mitigate war's suffering but can
never eliminate it. Terrorist groups like the Tamil Tigers, Hamas and al
Qaeda do not consider themselves bound by the rules of war and violate
them as a matter of doctrine by targeting noncombatants, using civilians
as human shields, torturing and executing prisoners, and by using
hospitals and religious sites as headquarters and sniper platforms.
"Any war against such an enemy will impose a degree of
tragedy on people who under other circumstances would be spared war's
horrors. But this is part of the terrorist tool kit, and reports such as
these play into their hands. By placing the terrorists' systematic
offenses against human dignity on par with the unintentional or
otherwise regrettable actions of the regime trying to defeat them, such
reports level a moral playing field that by rights the terrorists have
no right even to set foot on.
"Mr. Leahy should control his zeal to pursue what he
views as justice in Sri Lanka. Any objective comparison of Sri Lanka's
war against the Tamil Tigers or Israel's offensive against Hamas to
America's struggle against al Qaeda would cast the United States in the
same light, and elevate our enemies to a status they do not deserve. It
hands the enemies of freedom unearned victories even as they are being
defeated." |
