Category Archives: counter-insurgency

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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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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Central SL Navy Role in the Defeat of the LTTE, 2007-09

Michael Roberts

In responding to an email note from the Trinitian MOHAN SAHAYAM re another Trinitian TRAVIS SINNIAH, I proceeded to search for my articles on the role of Commodores Wasantha Karannagoda and Travis Sinniah in identifying and sinking the LTTE’s (illegal?) merchant navy supply ships way out in the Indian Ocean and sinking them in 2007 (a central element in defeating the LTTE).

These are some of my chance FINDS.

 

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De Silva-Ranasinghe’s In-Depth Studies of the LTTE’s Downfall During Eelam War IV . A Bibliography

From Perth with Incisive Penetration: De Silva-Ranasinghe’s In-Depth Analysis of the LTTE’s Downfall During Eelam War IV …. A Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009a “Political and Security Implications of Sri Lanka’s Armed Conflict,” Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, Feb.  2009, Vol. 35/1, pp. 20, 22-24.

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The Tale of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka, 1987–1990  

Compiled by Gp Capt Kumar Kirinde, SLAF [retd] …. from ………… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Peace_Keeping_Force and Google Images

Introduction

The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan Civil War between Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan military.

The main task of the IPKF was to disarm the different militant groups, not just the LTTE. It was to be quickly followed by the formation of an Interim Administrative Council. These were the tasks as per the terms of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord, signed at the behest of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Given the escalation of the conflict in Sri Lanka, and with the pouring of refugees into India, Rajiv Gandhi took the decisive step to push this accord through. The IPKF was inducted into Sri Lanka on the request of Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene under the terms of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord.

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The Bumbling-Rambling JVP Insurgency of 1971

Janaka Perera, in The Daily News, 5 April 2023, entitled “Oh What A Lovely War for the Colonels of CeylonRemembering the April 1971 insurgency – a reporter’s experience,”   …. With this qualifying Note: This however is not meant to be a reflection on JVP’s present-day politics but only a brief recording of history.”

April 5th marks the 52nd anniversary of JVP’s April insurgency of 1971. It saw the first armed insurrection in post-independence Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). All legally recognized political parties at the time cooperated with the then Government in suppressing the insurgency since they did not consider it a people’s uprising.

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Sri Lankan Armed Forces vs the Tamil Tigers: The Last Phase

Serge De Silva Ranasinghe, in The Diplomat, 20 May 2010,*** where the title runs thus “Reflections on the Tigers”

A year after the LTTE’s defeat, evidence shows criticism of Sri Lanka’s army is misplaced, says Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe.

Tamil civilians reach safety across Nandhikadal Lagoon —Pix by SL army

 

 

A year ago this week, the Sri Lankan government officially declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in one of the most extraordinary counter-insurgency campaigns in recent times.

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Confronting Sacrificial Devotion Worldwide, 2004-2012

Michael Roberts

Within the contemporary (2020) context of a few killings in European cities by Islamic jihadists on a journey to martyrdom at the feet of Allah, I happened to see Stephen Sackur’s grilling of a French politician in one of his “Hard Talk” presentations on Channel Four. I was critical of his narrow focus and my reflections led me on a comparative journey where I indicated that the cry of “Allahu Akbar” indicated a sense of self-fulfilment in this their final journey on earth for the perpetrators of such attacks.[1]

 

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Defeating the LTTE: The Worldwide Significance of This Achievement

Serge De Silva-Ranasinghe, in Asia-Pacific Defence News, Vol.5/5, May 15-June14, 2010, where the title is Defeat Of The LTTE And Its Significance” …. with the difficult & painstaking task of conversion being handled by Darshanie Ratnawalli in Sri Lanka ... while the highlighting emphasis in the article is the work of The Editor, Thuppahi

The month of May 2010 marks the first anniversary of the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE), which was widely considered to be among the most formidable insurgent-terrorist organisations in the world. In what was universally thought to be an unwinnable war, Sri Lanka emerged victorious in one of the most remarkable counter insurgency campaigns in the history of modern counter-insurgency(COIN) warfare, says Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe

Victorious Sri Lankan troops

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