August 9, 2007:
The LTTE is being seen as an empty
threat. The collapse of LTTE forces in eastern Sri Lanka, and inability to
carry out a promised terror campaign, has encouraged government forces, and
made Tamil civilians more willing to resist LTTE pressure (to volunteer, or
donate money.) The navy continues to destroy LTTE gunrunner boats off the
northern coast, while the air force bombed an LTTE base on the northern coast.
These bases are disguised as fishing villages, but better intelligence has led
to the discovery of which "fishing villages" are simply masquerading
as smugglers bases. Meanwhile, in the east, the government is trying to get the
LTTE Karuna faction, which allied with the army to crush LTTE control in the
area, to disarm. There are over a thousand armed Karuna gunmen, and they say
they will give up their weapons when they are sure there are no LTTE loyalists
in the area that can come after them. There are still believed to be several
hundred armed LTTE loyalists in the east, who have gone underground, and may
turn into a criminal gang to survive, and be difficult to eliminate. Most of
the army units have now gone north, where skirmishing on the front line is
increasing, with the LTTE getting ready to resist an army advance.
The LTTE vow to attack economic targets is not an
empty threat. Sabotage and suicide bomber activity teams are being detected and
caught. But last year, the economy grew 7.4 percent, and this year is doing
even better, the best economic growth since the 1970s.
The death toll in this new
phase of the war, going on for two years now, is about 5,000. A 2002
ceasefire ended 19 years of fighting that had killed about 65,000. But the
ceasefire collapsed in 2005. Since then, the LTTE has tried to reposition
itself as a hapless victim of government terror. Given the LTTE history of
violence and terror, few Sri Lankans, or foreigners, have fallen for the new
pitch.