Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Sri Lanka Claims Victory Over Tamil Tigers

After nearly a quarter century of fighting, the Sri Lankan government has claimed victory over the Tamil Tigers, a Hindu separatist terrorist group that at its height controlled much of Sri Lanka and even boasted a navy and air force.

No longer.

It has been crushed by the government and its leaders have either been captured or killed. The Tamil Tigers killed thousands of people and led to the misery of the residents of the island nation.

The Tamil Tigers employed many techniques that terrorists the world over now use with alarming regularity, including suicide bombings and indoctrinating child soldiers.

The Sri Lankan government's most recent efforts never wavered from the commitment to destroy the terrorist group. They weren't going to talk their way into appeasement and accommodation with the group. Sri Lanka now has a chance at peace and reconciliation.

It should also serve as a lesson to those following along the situation in the Middle East. Tolerating terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizbullah and Fatah will not lead to a positive outcome, not when they're busy indoctrinating another generation into hatred and routinely call for Israel's destruction.

The double standards are far more obvious when set in stark relief against how Sri Lanka defeated the Tamil Tigers. While most of the world focused its attention on Israel and the Palestinian mess, the body counts racked up in places like Sri Lanka at the hands of the Tamil Tigers. Even purported reports that the Sri Lankan government fired on refugee camps and hospitals killing dozens in an attempt to destroy the remnants of the Tamil Tigers didn't get the kind of criticism and outrage that was directed at Israel during its far more restrained efforts to dislodge Hamas during Operation Cast Lead.

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