Category Archives: law of armed conflict

August 16, 2020 · 4:56 pm

Norah Roberts: A Letter from Her Past, April 1995

My sister Norah Roberts, I now realise, was a remarkable woman. Further elaborations along these lines will follow in a second “Memoriam.” The present display is via a Letter she sent to Fr Corera of the Vanareeth House for Elders run by the Sisters of Charity in Galle on the 15th April 1995 …. a copy of which has been preserved by Moninna Goonewardena of 15 Parawa Street, Fort, Galle.[1]

The copy of the Letter below will be followed by a commentary on several facets touched on within the letter; while my Ode in Praise in a subsequent essay will present details on Norah Roberts and her difficult circumstances of total deafness from her 32/33rd years on earth.

GalleFort~library~2002

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August 15, 2020 · 3:29 am

Eelamist Movement Rises Again in the North?

Dinasena Ratugamage, in Island, 15 August 2020, where the title is “Wiggy makes vow before LTTE memorial”

Newly elected TMTK (Thamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani) MP C.V. Wigneswaran, on Thursday (13), vowed before the LTTE memorial at Mullivaikkal that he would fulfill the aspirations of the Tamil people.

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July 17, 2020 · 1:22 pm

Battleships Down: Early Signs in the Decline of British Imperial Power across the Span of the Indian Ocean

Michael Roberts

Prince of Wales (left, front) and Repulse (left, behind) under attack by Japanese aircraft. The destroyer Express in the foreground.

The crew of the sinking Prince of Wales abandoning ship to the destroyer Express. Moments later, the list on Prince of Wales suddenly increased and Express had to withdraw. Observe the barrels of the 5.25 in guns, which were unable to depress low enough to engage attackers due to the list.

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July 13, 2020 · 1:09 pm

Zoom-Boom: US Cyber Warfare vs China via Allegations re Zoom

VISIT this You Tube video on ZOOM entitled “Is China Spying? on Us?. Shocking Details in This Video.” …. c602c1a3-8f92-4b61-b4ea-f63b8c01315a

Because the speaker’s voice is that of an (Asian) Indian albeit one with traces of an American background, my suspicions were immediately aroused: was this not cunning US media warfare? So I sent it on toe an Aussie who speaks Chinese and Malaysian for critical readings (below). This does not mean that China does not indulge in subterranean political games, but that US agencies are masters at war games and covert games; while the US Pacific Fleet has ringed east Asia with an array of armed bases ever since 1945; and that in the present world order India is on its side because of recent spats with China.

Note map and details in …… Jenny Awford: “US readies for war with China with 400 bases of ships and nukes to create ‘perfect noose’ around superpower rival,” 5 Dec 2016, https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2331190/us-readies-for-war-with-china-with-400-bases-of-ships-and-nukes-to-create-perfect-noose-around-superpower-rival/

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June 29, 2020 · 6:31 pm

Hiran Halangode on the SL Army’s History bearing on the Land Warfare Campaign in 2006-09

The SL Army’s Land Warfare Campaign in 2006-09: Debating the Lines of Strategic Emphasis

HALANGODE FOUR: Retd Brig. Hiran Halangode’s Clarification**

This account deals with the question of the re-organization of the Infantry Battalions and a gradual expansion of the SIOT concept since 2002.

I start with the raising of the Ceylon Army and its evolution up-to 1983 in brief.  The Army was raised to defend Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity whilst the external threat was to be met by the British Forces deployed in Ceylon. Note our INTERNAL DEFENCE was primarily the Ceylon Army’s responsibility.  Our Army’s primary tasks were to tackle the trade union and leftist agitations, strikes and work disruptions which affected our supply of essential services, distribution of food from the port and our daily life. Continue reading →

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June 21, 2020 · 7:41 am

David Blacker on the SL Army’s Land Warfare Campaign in 2006-09

 The SL Army’s Land Warfare Campaign in 2006-09: Debating the Lines of Strategic Emphasis THREE: David Blacker’s Clarification

In a telephone conversation in June 2020 relating to the Sri Lankan armed forces successful military campaign on land against the formidable LTTE forces during Eelam War IV,[1] issues arose regarding the lines of strategic emphasis. As I was not familiar with one of the summary terms mentioned in this chat, I formulated a ‘QUESTION’ which I sent to several personnel with a military background.[2]


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June 21, 2020 · 7:29 am

Travis Sinniah’s Note on the SL Army’s Land Warfare Campaign in 2006-09:

The SL Army’s Land Warfare Campaign in 2006-09: Debating the Lines of Strategic Emphasis TWO: Travis Sinniah’s Clarification

In a telephone conversation in June 2020 relating to the Sri Lankan armed forces successful military campaign on land against the formidable LTTE forces during Eelam War IV,[1] issues arose regarding the lines of strategic emphasis. As I was not au fait with one of the summary terms mentioned in this chat, I formulated a ‘QUESTION’ which I sent to several personnel with a military background.[2] In a deliberate presentational ‘tactic,’ I am placing the Memoranda I received in reply from Retd Admiral Travis Sinniah[3] ahead of the Question I presented to him.

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June 16, 2020 · 5:31 am

Battling the West. For Sri Lanka. Naseby at his Best

Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, in Island, 16 June 2020 where the title is “Lord Naseby’s Paradise”

It is a great joy to come across someone who loves this country passionately. In the case of Lord Naseby the joy is enhanced by the practical aspects of his devotion, his unceasing efforts to promote Sri Lanka’s interests and to combat what he sees as unremitting and vicious hostility to Sri Lanka on the part of successive governments.

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May 13, 2020 · 6:33 pm

Holy War Unmasked

 Brian Victoria …… Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. John Donne

Introduction: Is religion a force for peace or war? Or to borrow a phrase from the title of Christopher Hitchen’s book, God Is Not Great, does religion really poison everything, including the possibility of living in a peaceful world?

The answer is much like posing the question of whether the glass is half full or half empty. That is to say, for every example cited to prove that religion has supported warfare and violence, other examples can be presented to show ways in which religion has contributed to peace and the avoidance of war, reconciliation between bitter enemies and the general betterment of humanity and the world. When the question is posed in this way, the debate is as endless as it is futile unless the “winner” is the side that amasses the greatest number of examples.

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May 13, 2020 · 12:45 pm

German POWs in Britain: 1945 Onwards

Watch and ponder –– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFehPgwCo3I

(2/5) Timewatch the Germans we Kept World War II

With the wars end many prisoners were soon on their way back home but a program of re-education was devised to supposedly prepare the prisoners for a new life in a different Germany. The full horrors of the Holocaust were put on show and one prisoner who was at the time a hard-line Nazi remembers that many of his comrades did not believe that the Holocaust had taken place thinking it was British propaganda designed to shame the German people even more….

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