“Lanka belongs to Sinhala” not attractive even to Barack Obama

Modern day insurgencies and terrorism are identified as part of fourth generation warfare and are also a vindication of the evolutionary nature of war.

Third generation warfare heavily focused on manoeuvre, combined air, sea and land operations and were fought on two main domains:

mainly on the battlefront and
on the information front to a lesser extent.

Terrorists on the other hand have taken the war beyond the confines of the battlefront, operating on multiple fronts including information, political, social and cultural domains. Then the dilemma of modern day militaries is that their armouries and strategies are better suited to fight third generation warfare, which was waged between nation states.

Thomas X Hammes, a retired mariner and a specialist in counter-insurgency argues that a numerically inferior force of the fourth generation could defeat a much superior military force of a previous generation through the successful application of all available Che resources in multiple domains. Indeed, both the United States and the Soviet Union lost two wars, the former to the Vietcong and the latter to the Afghan Mujahideen, which deployed the strategies of fourth generation warfare.

“The LTTE itself is waging a fourth generation war against the Sri Lankan government and reverberations of how successful the Tiger guerrillas had been in this regard could now be heard from Tamil Nadu.”

said Ranga Jayasuriya in the LAKBIMANEWS of October 19.

Fourth generation terrorists

This opens an interesting point for discussion. How come that so-called terrorists of the fourth generation, such as the Vietcong or the LTTE manage to outwit the superior military power by propaganda and other means? It will be simplistic to claim that the rebel outfits were clever and had better tactics.

In all these cases the superior military power was fighting to conquer a land occupied by a nationality which willingly or grudgingly identified with the rebels. This mass backing from the oppressed people is crucial for any insurgent organisation. Failing which, the rebels could get defeated and quit easily.

In Bolivia, the romantic hero of all rebels, Che Guevara was arrested easily by the Bolivian army when he was rejected by the oppressed peasants whom he wanted to represent. Many other such examples are available in the world arena.

The Vietcong was recognised as a liberation organisation by the world socialist movement and also by a large number of liberal organisations. Hence without direct tactical intervention of the Vietcong - and sometimes against it - there were campaigns for the Vietnamese liberation struggle. Many Trotskyites did not see eye-to-eye with the Vietnamese communists as the latter eliminated around 2000 Trotskyites in the late 30s. But that did not prevent all socialists from getting together to support the Vietnamese national liberation.

Non-heroic slogan

The problem with the Sinhala forces is that their attempt to conquer Kilinochchi under the non-heroic slogan of “Lanka belongs to Sinhala” is not attractive even to Barack Obama. Not only socialists but even common liberals are astonished by the claims of Sinhala chauvinists. It is true that the Hela Urumaya stretches far back to the times of Vijaya, the first Sinhalese. It is a long tradition and a long history, perhaps even quite unique in the world. But the fact remains that Kilinochchi is 100% Tamil. The conquest of Kilinochchi by Sinhala forces cannot be explained as liberation to any sensible person. On the other hand the tireless defence of Kilinochchi by the helpless LTTE rebels is attractive to any Tamil, Lankan or otherwise. Once detached from social and national implications, the actions of the Sinhala chauvinist regime become simply a superior military action.

The fact that 250,000 miserable Tamils, in spite of hunger and fear, are determined to stay in the Tamil homeland to associate with the defensive action of the LTTE is a real victory for the LTTE. Similarly the campaigns of the Tamil diaspora all over the world, which attract many who are opposed to the LTTE is a victory for them. Finally the uprising in Tamil Nadu is also a victory for them. To counter these, what can the Sinhala chauvinist regime do? In spite of bogus election victories the trade unions are up in arms against the government. The railway strike was successful. Teachers are planning further action.

There is a possibility of a national conference against inflation, war and terror. Where is the pro Sinhala chauvinist campaign other than in the anti Indian howling?