Category Archives: counter-insurgency

April 30, 2024 · 7:47 pm

The WEST: In Engagement in Two Contrasting Wars

Lakshman Gunasekara.  in Daily News, 30 April 2024, where the  chosen title is “Russia advances as NATO stingy wit Ukraine aid” …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Ukrainians are realising with horror that their Western “allies” are de-prioritising their war with Russia as the Palestine war and West Asian flare-ups keep the Western power bloc focused on sustaining tiny client Israel. The United States alone has so far provided Ukraine with military aid worth US$ 44 billion since the Russian invasion of Ukraine but that is small compared with the West’s pampering of Israel.

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March 27, 2024 · 7:44 pm

Why the West is wrong to blame ISIS for the Crocus Terrorist Attack

An Observer in a Black Sea town 

” The American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) assert Russia has no evidence to claim Ukraine was involved in the terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall on 22 March 2024.”

Actually, the Russians do have evidence and they have shared some of it with the world including,

  1. The terrorists were heading to the Ukraine border to escape.
  2. A window was opened at the border from the Ukrainian side, which means instructions must have been issued to Ukrainian border guards from the highest levels of the Ukrainian government.
  3. The terrorists do not fit the typical Jihadist prototype as they were motivated by money, not religious ideology. It would be more accurate to describe them as “mercenaries”, or “mercenary terrorists”. Each was to be paid a half a million roubles (US$5400; AUS$8272)

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March 8, 2024 · 12:47 pm

Palaly Airport as Site for SLAF Exhibition

Ananth Palakidnar in Daily News, 10 March 2024 … with highlighting emphasis being the work of the Editor Thuppahi

The Sri Lanka Air Force has chosen the city of Jaffna to include in its 73rd-anniversary celebration by organising an exhibition of the SLAF at the historic Muttraveli area around the Dutch Fort of Jaffna.

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March 1, 2024 · 12:29 am

The Roberts Mss at Adelaide University Library

Michael Roberts

Recent Email Exchanges with Jane Russell of UK, who has one foot in England and two feet in island Sri Lanka, and a revived focus on  George E De Silva (1870-1950) reminded me of the George E. Mss Memoirs in typescript which Jane had given me long ago. This led me to a long list which amounts to a treasure trove for those addressing a variety of topics in the history of Sri Lanka. I present the details before. Those wishing to pursue specifics must write to the Head of the Special Collections at the Barr Smith Library Adelaide University, not to me: samantha.farnsworth@adelaide.edu.au

It is my conjecture that the same corpus of material (or parts thereof) will also be part of the Roberts Collection at the National Library Services Board along Torrington Rd (beside the National Archives) in Colombo. They could initially seek specifics from Mr Welimuni Sunil who heads the institution: viz …

Welimuni Sunil … sunilnldsb@gmail.com

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February 29, 2024 · 1:07 pm

Former Military Officers in Political Party Campaigns in Sri Lanka

Shamindra Ferdinando, in The Island, 28 February 2024 where the title runs thus: “National Elections: Ex-military Factor”... with highighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

With the presidential election scheduled for later this year, political parties represented in Parliament have stepped up efforts to forge alliances.

Ex-military personnel at a rally organized by the JVP last year (pic courtesy JVP)

In terms of the Constitution, presidential elections will have to be conducted between Sept 18 and Oct 18, 2024. The last presidential election was held in Nov 2019.

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October 24, 2023 · 7:14 pm

The Sea Tigers at War: Innovativeness married to Experiential Art

 Rear. Admiral Y.N. Jayarathne …. whose preferred title for this article is “Principles of the Swarming Concepts” …. and where the black highlights are his work

Situational awareness

The Sea Tiger, enemy we fought at sea, was a ‘worthy enemy’ as I recall! This enemy (when I say enemy it is not an individual that I am referring to but the group or the collection of individuals) evolved from a fisheries background: thus they knew the ground (the sea, the marine environment and the marine weather.  In any fishing community there always will be weather forecasters who would say whether it is going to rain or sea is going to be rough by simply looking at the clouds and environment), new the trade of seafaring; how to manoeuvre/navigate the boats and new how to repair, modify and manufacture boats! All these were passed down the generations through experience and wisdom, and not by formal education at school. So, they were psychologically empowered, physically fit by knowing how to swim at sea (a tremendous self-confidence factor in personal capacity) and professionally competent for the trade!

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October 22, 2023 · 3:34 pm

The GAZA Clash & Its Ramifications: Fundamental Grounding …. A Sri Lankan’s Reading

A Sri Lankan in Brisbane … responding to my Thuppahi Question: Why did HAMAS launch an attack in Palestine [with implicit awareness of extreme Israeli retaliations] ? … with the highlighting in red being that of the Editor, Thuppahi and that in black being the author’s.

HIS RESPONSE

Dear Michael,

Israel has never been a country that abided by International rules.

Although the majority of Jews migrated to Israel from Russia & Eastern Europe, the British & US heavily back Israel because the wealthy Jews who fund US Congress are in the US & UK. The US Congress is beholden to these wealthy Jews for their election funding. In addition, almost all Arab countries are headed by corrupt US cronies, beholden to the $.

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October 18, 2023 · 8:23 pm

Scott Ritter at the Coalface of the Catastrophe Unfolding in Gaza and Israel

Michael Roberts …  summarizing some of the points made inan extended interview

Do spend time and digest the video presentation by Scott Ritter in a Q and A SESSION, …. It is a MUST-SEE event….. which also essays home-turuths about the war in Ukraine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6mWeUPj84E

 

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September 18, 2023 · 7:08 pm

USA’s “Global War on Terror” Following 9/11

Compiled by Gp Capt Kumar Kirinde, SLAF [retd]: “A global counter-terrorism military campaign initiated by the U.S. in 2001”  ……….. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror, https://www.cia.gov/legacy/museum/exhibit/on-the-front-lines-cia-in-afghanistan/, ChatGPT, and Google Images … [with only some photographs 

Introduction:  ……  The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism”” (GWOT), is a global counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks and is also the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars. The main targets of the campaign were militant Islamist and Salafi jihadist armed organisations such as al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their international affiliates, which were waging military insurgencies to overthrow governments of various Muslim-majority countries. Other major targets included the Ba’athist regime in Iraq, which was deposed during an invasion in 2003, and various militant factions that fought during the ensuing insurgency

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September 14, 2023 · 12:56 am

Serious Shortcomings in Channel Four’s Reading of the 2019 Easter Sunday Bombings in Sri Lanka

Ranga Jayasuriya, in The Daily Mirror, 13 September 2023, where the title reads  “Real victims and real danger of Channel 4’s fact-less documentary” …. with highlighting imposed by Th Editor, Thuppahi

Channel 4’s latest documentary on the Easter Sunday attack is way too depressing for any Sri Lankan, more so for the survivors and relatives who live with the memories of the slaughter of innocents.  But, after a 47-minute-long documentary, all that emerges is a ghastly piece of clickbait journalism that tries to repackage a hackneyed conspiracy theory, relying on the testimony of a single dubious asylum seeker, and generously mixing the harrowing tales of survivors, who live with the pain, as if the emotive appeal would provide credibility to the unfounded claims.

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