Richard Koenigsberg
Douglas Haig was the British General who planned and executed the Battle of the Somme, which began on July 1, 1916. Visiting the battlefield on March 31, 1917, Haig reflected (De Groot, 1989) upon the hundreds of thousands of British casualties: “Credit must be paid to the splendid young officers who were able time and time again to attack these tremendous positions…To many it meant certain death, and all must have known that before they started.”
Richard Koenigsberg
EXTRACTS as introduction….
Faith in the Nation: The idea of the nation is a fundamental “assumption” that defines the manner in which modern man perceives, and experiences, social reality. Just as people in earlier historical periods possessed an absolute faith in the reality of God, so do people in contemporary cultures possess an absolute faith in the reality of the nation.
In a democratic culture, people differ regarding the stance taken in relation to the nation: the country may be “loved” or hated; perceived to be “healthy” or sick; “strong” or weak. But whatever stance is adopted, people are united by their absolute faith in the reality of this entity, and their belief that this entity constitutes a fundamental determinant of the nature, and of the quality, of their daily lives. Continue reading
SEE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG4YMNg_viw
Pic from the Library of C0ngress
Adolf Hitler seemed an unlikely leader – fuelled by anger, incapable of forming normal human relationships and unwilling to debate political issues. Such was the depth of his hatred that he would become a war criminal arguably without precedent in history. Yet this strange character was once loved by millions. How was this possible, and what role did Hitler’s alleged ‘charisma’ play in his success? Continue reading
Somapala Gunadheera, in The Sunday Island, 11 November 2012
Misjudgements are anathema to justice. Nevertheless even they may accidentally ensure ‘the greater good of the greater number’ in very exceptional circumstances. The following judgements made by the Supreme Court since 2005 have turned out to be one such instance.
1. Injunction to prevent the Police from further investigating alleged misappropriation of tsunami funds by Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR)
2. Ruling that President Kumaratunga (PK), steps down from office one year earlier than stipulated
3. Decision that allowed any “cross over” in Parliament to continue as an elected MP, despite his or her political party’s objections
These decisions have been widely criticized with cogent reasons by legal luminaries. Recently there has even been an implied confession on the tenability of the injunction at 1 above. However, my intention is not to go into the legality of these decisions but to reflect on how they changed the course of history of this island. Continue reading
Filed under accountability, Fascism, historical interpretation, Hitler, Indian Ocean politics, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, racist thinking, Rajapaksa regime, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, terrorism, violence of language, world events & processes
Dayan Jayatilleka, in The Island, 5 June 2012, where the title was “Prabhakaran Paraphrased: The ‘autonomist-secessionist continuum’ in Tamil politics.”
Professor Urmila Phadnis the late doyenne of Lankanology in Indian academia was utterly discerning when she concluded over two decades ago in her last book (‘Ethnicity and nation-building in South Asia’) that Lankan Tamil ‘sub-nationalism’ was unique in the region in that it alone displayed an ‘autonomist-secessionist continuum’. It was with shock and dismay that I found that the keynote speech of R Sampanthan at the 14th Convention of the ITAK in May 2012, echoes in significant respects those of Velupillai Prabhakaran, to the extent that that there are near-identical passages. Continue reading
Statement of Purpose: This book will explore the hypothesis that there is a common dynamic underlying enemy creation. While cultural contexts and historical situations differ (and are often complex), warfare may arise out of a fundamental template revolving around the identification of an enemy perceived to be a threat to one’s nation or ideology. To defend or rescue the sacred ideal, the class of persons designated as enemy must be defeated, eliminated or destroyed. Continue reading
Pirapahran as Guevera -Pic by Tekwani
Courtesy of Colombo Telegraph Filed under accountability, Eelam, historical interpretation, Hitler, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, politIcal discourse, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajiv Gandhi, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, Tamil Tiger fighters, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
Michael Roberts,13 April 2012 … courtesy Eurasia Review, where you will find blog comments. Also see Colombo Telegraph for a different set of comments. The essay here has some embellishments and refinements.
Blackmailing Sri Lanka, 2009
The long and episodic war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the Tamil liberation forces commanded by the LTTE from the 1980s to 2009 involved numerous atrocities on both sides, notably those in the Eastern Province in 1990. It is puzzling why, today, certain Western states and the human rights lobby (HR) are concentrating solely on the crunch situation in 2009 at the end of Eelam War IV in pressing alleged war crimes charges against the Sri Lankan government; and why symbolic LTTE figures such as V. Rudrakumaran and Adele Balasingham are also not being placed within the bars of moral justice.
David Miliband with Tamils for Labour
he puzzle serves as a backdrop for my argument that the Western nations, both individually and collectively, were sucked into and thus complicit in one of the most outstanding acts of political blackmail the world has seen in recent centuries.[i] This was when the LTTE utilised its own people, some 320-350,000 citizens of Thamilīlam as a hostage-bargaining chip that would enable them to pursue their fight another day.
Guided by their well-placed connections in media and other circles in the West, the LTTE had read the international scene well. Strands of secular fundamentalism had prominent voice and humanitarian impulses[ii] could be persuaded Continue reading
Filed under discrimination, historical interpretation, Hitler, Indian Ocean politics, law of armed conflict, life stories, LTTE, mass conscription, military strategy, NGOs, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, prabhakaran, propaganda, Rajapaksa regime, reconciliation, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war crimes, world events & processes
Courtesy of the Associated Press, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-03-30/hitler-parents-grave/53893852/1
The tombstone marking the grave of Adolf Hitler‘s parents, Continue reading
thuppahi
