Category Archives: military expenditure

September 17, 2022 · 3:13 pm

“Ceylonese” Fighting for Britain during the Two World Wars

Michael Roberts

Following the recent publication of the book Volunteers from Ceylon who served in the British and Commonwealth Forces during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945) …. I asked the assiduous compilers of this work to provide a convenient statistical summary of the number of personnel from Ceylon who decided to serve the British Empire in its hour of need (with all the political and cultural implications of these decisions in my ‘compass’).

So, Thuppahi can now present the statistics courtesy of Kumar Kirinde (ex-Trinity College and SL Air Force).

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, Empire loyalism, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, military expenditure, patriotism, politIcal discourse, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes

September 12, 2022 · 12:37 am

The LTTE’s Remarkable Capacities: Its Air Tigers

Compiled by Kumar Kirinde, Retd Officer of  the SLAF, whose chosen title was as follows: “The Air Tigers: The Air Wing of A Terrorist Organisation”  …… with information and images  sourced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Tigers and Google Images)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pirapaharan (ext. left) with Anton Balasingham on his left and KP Pathmanathan in front and Shankar on the extreme right in the Vanni jungles circa 2001(?) … Shankar was in effect the Air Tiger chief

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, anton balasingham, Eelam, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, LTTE, martyrdom, military expenditure, military strategy, modernity & modernization, performance, Tamil Tiger fighters, transport and communications, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes

August 15, 2022 · 12:18 am

Forgotten Political Aggression: India in Sikkim and Taiwan under Chiang Kai-she

ONE: Lin Minwang

New Delhi has been making new moves at the border recently. From October 14 to 31, India and the US are scheduled to hold the annual joint military exercise “Yudh Abhyas” in Auli in the Indian state of Uttarakhand – deliberately choosing to hold the event less than 100 kilometers away from the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the China-India border.

 

 

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, economic processes, ethnicity, Fascism, governance, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, military expenditure, military strategy, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, truth as casualty of war, world affairs

August 3, 2022 · 2:36 am

HMS “Ceylon”: In Service from 1942-1985

Group Captain Kumar Kirinde, Retd. SLAF whose preferred title is indicated at the end together with detials from one inspiration, that from Richard Boyle.

 

 

Introduction:  HMS Ceylon was a Fiji-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was of the Ceylon sub class, named after the island and British colony of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The cruiser saw service in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres during the Second World War. In the postwar era, she participated in actions in Egypt and the Korean War. In 1960 she transferred to the navy of Peru and was renamed Coronel Bolognesi. The cruiser was scrapped in 1985.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, military expenditure, military strategy, Pacific Ocean issues, performance, power politics, sea warfare, security, transport and communications, war reportage, World War II and Ceylon

May 5, 2022 · 11:58 am

Drone Warfare: Picking Its Entrails

Audrey Kurth Cronin, in Foreign Affairs, June 2013  ….. with this title “Why Drones Fail. When Tactics Drive Strategy,”

 

 

 

 

Don’t drone me, bro! Pakistani tribesmen hold pieces of a missile, January 2009 Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, biotechnology, landscape wondrous, law of armed conflict, life stories, military expenditure, military strategy, modernity & modernization, performance, security, terrorism, trauma, world events & processes

April 10, 2022 · 8:35 pm

USA’s Dollar Weaponry did not Deter Russia from Attacking Ukraine

This article in the ATLANTIC COUNCIL web site on 31 January 2022 pinpointed one relam of power wielded by USA and indicated that it would induce Putin and Russia NOT to attack Ukraine. The fallacy of this prediction does not alter the significance of the Argument about US America’s monetary clout within this our world –– Editor,Thuppahi

George Pearkes

The invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces appears increasingly likely. Over one hundred thousand Russian troops are massed at the border of neighboring Ukraine, there are allegations of cyber attacks and false flag operations, and reports Russia is withdrawing diplomatic staff. America has responded by threatening Russia with an unconventional weapon: the dollar. However, deploying the dollar may actually undermine its power, and hasten its departure from the US arsenal.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, ethnicity, export issues, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, legal issues, military expenditure, politIcal discourse, power politics, slanted reportage, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, world events & processes

March 24, 2022 · 11:26 pm

Peas from the Same Almighty Pod: USA and Russia

Norman Solomon, in Common Dreams  23 March 2022, with this title “From Moscow to Washington, the Barbarism and Hypocrisy Don’t Justify Each Other”

While apologists for the governments of Russia or the United States want to focus on some truths to the exclusion of others, the horrific militarism of both countries deserves only opposition.

Russia’s war in Ukraine—like the USA’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—should be understood as barbaric mass slaughter. For all their mutual hostility, the Kremlin and the White House are willing to rely on similar precepts: Might makes right. International law is what you extol when you aren’t violating it. And at home, rev up the nationalism to go with the militarism.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, atrocities, centre-periphery relations, disparagement, governance, historical interpretation, life stories, military expenditure, nationalism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Russian history, truth as casualty of war, war crimes, world events & processes

March 24, 2022 · 6:30 pm

China as Ogre: USA’s Disinformation Campaign in Sri Lanka gathers Momentum

An Internationalist in the Anzac Realm** …………….has informed Thuppahi that “the US congress passed a bill last year that approved a half a billion US dollars to fund a global anti China media campaign which includes training hundreds of journalists to plant anti-china stories in every media outlet in every country the US can influence.   So we can expect such articles by the ton every 2 seconds.”

This Note was in response to Thuppahi’s Query about this item (one sent to me by a Lankan friend): viz https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-turns-its-back-on-sri-lanka-amid-massive-economic-crisis-report-2837606Inbox

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, australian media, centre-periphery relations, China and Chinese influences, citizen journalism, disparagement, economic processes, governance, Indian Ocean politics, life stories, military expenditure, news fabrication, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes

March 21, 2022 · 6:59 pm

Blood on Putin’s Hands from Way Back

Michael Patrick O’Leary …. The PADRAIG, in Ceylon Today, …. whose chosen title = “Putin’s Bloody Past” …. Part One”

 

 

 

 

From 2007 to 2013, Catherine Belton was the Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times. She currently works as an investigative correspondent for Reuters, based in London. In her book Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and Then Took On the West, she gives a good insight into the character of Putin as he rose to power.

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Filed under accountability, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, centre-periphery relations, conspiracies, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, human rights, law of armed conflict, legal issues, life stories, military expenditure, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, power politics, Russian history, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes

February 20, 2022 · 12:59 pm

Tales from A Japanese Civilian interned in Australia during World War Two

Miles Kemp

Bank worker Miyakatsu Koike was minding his own business, working quietly in the Surabaya Java branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank, but events on one December day in 1941 turned his life upside down. He had no connections with the military. But his homeland had staged a daring, amoral and unprovoked attack on the US pacific fleet in Hawaii, dragging both countries immediately into World War II. Mr Koike, then 36, was arrested by Dutch colonial authorities immediately and in January the next year became one of South Australia’s most reluctant residents. In harsh conditions, he spent more than four years at the Loveday internment camp located near Barmera.

 Loveday POW camp

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, discrimination, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, military expenditure, politIcal discourse, power politics, security, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, trauma, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes, World War II