Air Attack: Looking For A Scapegoat

A local newspaper and some political organisations are blaming the radar equipment gifted by India to the Sri Lanka Government for the failure to thwart two LTTE aircraft attacking the Katunayake Air Force Base while the government itself has not come forward to clear the air over this crucial issue which has led to a diplomatic row between the two countries.

The Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon has been quick to rebut the allegations and ruled out any possibility of the radar system not working. 'There is no question of them failing,' he had told a press conference. Meanwhile the Patriotic National Movement has charged the government of negligence and blamed allegedly sub-standard radar equipment of Indian origin for the failure to prevent that attack. And another press report said Friday that CID and air force investigators probing the attack had found that 'all radars except one' had been removed for repairs on the day of the incident and said they were investigating whether the LTTE was informed of this. The government is also keeping mum on the exact extent of the damage caused whilst not giving access to the SLMM to report on the incident either, leading to wild speculation on this score as well.

Meanwhile the story is getting fruitier and nuttier as government spokesmen blame UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe for the LTTE smuggling in aircraft which they say were used for the bombing whilst also targeting the two sacked ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyaarachchi by some convoluted logic which even Einstein would have failed to understand.

Not to be outdone, the UNP is coming back with the story that the money given by the SLFP to the LTTE when their secret pact was made before the last presidential election had been used by Velupillai Pirapaharan to purchase the planes. Pirapaharan, however, remains silent in his jungle lair probably planning out the next attack and laughing at the petty politics the powers that be are indulging in, in the south.

All these attacks and counter attacks by Colombo's politicians detract from the basic fact that the responsibility to prevent any sort of aerial attack must necessarily lie with the Defence Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and the defence establishment headed by his brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse though not many would dare say so given the climate of fear gripping the country.

In modern democracies the responsibility for disasters in institutions under a ministry has to be taken by the minister and his key officials. This has not happened in the recent airbase bombing and no one is holding their breath in anticipation either knowing fully well the ways of Sri Lanka's politicians and her political appointees.

The whole affair is taking on the format of the usual Sri Lankan political comedy with the government in particular attempting to mislead the public by drawing more than just a red herring and even antagonising a friendly neighbour who had come forward in its hour of need with a radar system just to avoid a political fall out in the south.

The involvement of the Indian government where even the foreign secretary was compelled to comment is a serious issue which the government cannot ignore. More so considering the full implication of the statement which rather than warn of the impending dangers of the LTTE acquiring air capability referred to it as being just one incident in the growing escalation of violence in the country.

President Rajapakse has done his utmost to cultivate good relations with India, and his first foreign visit on being elected was to New Delhi. But all those efforts were reduced to naught due to a breakdown of trust particularly after the promised political package by mid March was not delivered upon and the government proceeding to de-merge the north and east despite repeated appeals not to do so until there was delivery on a political settlement.

And when aspersions were cast at a meeting presided by President Rajapakse on the radar system which was a gift from India, it was incumbent on the part of the President to clear the name of India when in fact it does appear that it was not the fault of the radar system but of those who maintain it. Of course the government had the option to accept the Indian gift or not and if needed even purchase another foreign system. But having accepted the gift, to permit false accusations to be made was not in the best interests of Indo-Lanka relations and this is reflected in the comments made by Menon.

To some the silence of the government on slurs cast on the Indian radar equipment seems to imply that there is an attempt to evade responsibility with some sections of the public saying the Indian equipment was at fault. The President should issue a clear statement on the matter not only because the charge was made in his very presence by his own Joint Chief of Staff Donald Perera and confidant Wimal Weerawansa at Monday's party leaders meeting but more particularly because the Indian Foreign Secretary has emphatically denied the allegations made.

The continued military conflicts imply that the LTTE is likely to attempt to hit back where it hurts most. The air force base was not only a military target but an economic target as well given its close proximity to the country's only international airport. This is well illustrated by the economic fallout consequent to the attacks at the Katunayake air base as well as the international airport in 2001. It sent the economy crashing to well below zero growth that year. In a military conflict of this nature a guerrilla force has a choice of enough and more targets but the government has only a selected few targets. Thus those who want to continue engaging the LTTE should expect more attacks in urban targets in the near future.

With no signs of initiation by both sides for negotiations President Rajapakse should think of immediate measures to destroy the air power acquired by the LTTE. But that appears to be a difficult task because the development of an air wing by the LTTE was known for sometime but the government was not able to locate their air base.

It is clear, Mahinda Chinthana, JVP and JHU rhetoric will not suffice. Technical and financial assistance available from abroad are called for. Even the deployment of satellites to track down LTTE establishments under the jungle cover of the Wanni will be required. But those who have such technology and President Rajapakse are drifting apart because of the perceived intolerance of this government to minority rights, human rights and free expression.

President Rajapakse, from the word go, lacked the political finesse to get the assistance and co-operation from Western nations as well as from India. His blunt attitude towards the LTTE and association with the extremist JVP and JHU from the very inception made him a 'hardliner' in the eyes of the West. He need not have followed in the footsteps of Ranil Wickremesinghe but could have presented an alternative which he is still to do.

It does appear that while he is waiting for the All Party Conference to deliver the much anticipated baby, he is pursuing the military option with much vigour. The All Party Conference has been tried before and failed to deliver any kind of baby with so many cantankerous fathers attempting to fashion the baby according to their mould. The mid- wifery of Tissa Vitharana however well intentioned it maybe, is quite unlikely to produce the desired result.

The President has proclaimed that the east will be cleared by New Year. But how he will hold it and how many troops he will require are not known. Chandrika Kumaratunga cleared the Jaffna Peninsula but over 40,000 troops are still required to hold it and he will do well to draw lessons from that experience.

All peace loving citizens will certainly be happy if the east is permanently cleared of the LTTE and its terrorism but whether President Rajapakse after much effort will be able to do it and establish a lasting peace is in doubt despite the valiant efforts of the security forces simply because they don't have the numbers.

The aerial attack on the Katunayake base did show that the Tiger was neither down nor out but had been merely crouching and the President as Defence Minister will do well to anticipate where it would next pounce and take timely action to avert another calamity without looking for scapegoats after the fact.