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March 28th 2007

While there is no need for unmitigated paranoia over the LTTE's recent attack on the Katunayaka Airbase the Sri Lankan Administration and Armed Forces cannot dispell it lightly. It may be LTTE desperation which forced their hand towards this attack which was carefully planned and executed but the fact that the Airbase was caught unguarded and by surprise emphasizes the prime need to beef up security at all strategic locations within the Nation.

This should initiate an all out offensive despite the various opinions pointing towards moderation. As the LTTE are not an entity which would respond to moderation or mediation as they have now proved themselves to be dangerous to the point where they need complete elimination in the best interests of the Nation as well as the Region! In fact they seem to have got the concept of kindness on the part of the Government all wrong and seem to have mistaken it for weakness!

Therefore the LTTE’s air raid on the Katunayake air base near Colombo does prove tangibly that the Tigers resolve to strike hard at a time of their choosing cannot be underestimated as many military strategists and expert analysts of the mindset of terrorist groups believe.

While the so called 'Air Eelam' based upon no tangible evidence towards credibility has to be dispelled as a myth which is based on the usual LTTE exaggerations. It must not be permitted any leeway to grow and propagate where every angle of its portayal by the LTTE needs to be stamped out on behalf of the Nation's best interests and towards further prevention of mass hysteria and the reprisals it could cause by way of a huge backlash against innocent Tamil citizens of the land.

The Nation of Sri Lanka can also take comfort in the fact that any concerns about LTTE air capabilility towards major contention as an overall threat to the Nation. This is something the LTTE would like to broadcast falsely knowing fully well that one or two hastily assembled light aircraft do not an airforce make and that they simply got lucky in their first attempt. A small scale aerial attack on a military facility which must not be permitted to recur based on the huge military firepower and capabilities of the Sri Lankan Land Air and Sea Defence forces with the caution that they can ill afford to be taken unawares ever again!

There is however a nagging concern on a "what if" basis as presented by one school of thought relative to Monday's attacks. This sends a chill down many a discerning spine and seems an overall just cause towards the "search and destroy completely"theory as a felt need as outlined in the following quote by a military analyst."The use of the micro light craft to conduct an aerial attack on a static target on the ground raises visions of the horrendous possibility of a micro light ramming into a commercial aircraft during the vulnerable moments of landing and taking off. The overall advantage of these micro lights in a terror attack is that they can fly low to avoid being detected by airport radar." end quote where notwithstanding the micro light reference the all important question must still be asked as there is no cofirmation that the aircraft used in the attack were indeed micro light!!! "Whatever happened to the sophisticated surveillance and radar systems set in place around the periphery of the Airport and Airbase ? Were they figments of someone's imagination?

There is also a breaking albeit unconfirmed report that two light aircraft had been detected as approaching Katunayaka spotted on more than one radar screen in the region but was either shrugged off by who ever recieved the message about their presence as unimportant or the report by itself, mere speculation and innuendo.

Whatever the case may be the attack was carried out succesfully and if there are heads which need to roll so be it as all the events surrounding Airport and Airbase security seems to have been encompassed by a state of gross negligence and it seems sheer good fortune that the reprisals by way of casualties and property damage have not been greater!

But the most worrying aspect of this recent attack lies in the cognizance that this was the second attack on air facilities in the vicinity of Katunayake airport where previously the LTTE attack was of a far greater scale and stationary aircraft and airport facilities were targetted and the casualty rate also much higher. For the LTTE to repeat an attrocity of this nature, one surmises that there was something quite wrong with the Airbase security and to make matters worse the surveillance system as well as the continuous security watch seem to have failed to live upto expectations permitting this very bold action by the terrorists.

In the simplest of terms this pre-dawn air raid in the small hours of March 27 is indeed a security lapse by the Rajapaksha Government and the Commander in Chief. Something which in all probabilities has also given a false sense of smug content to LTTE credibility amongst its supportive Tamil Diaspora, who despite the many obstacles towards their progress and propagation globally, being condemned, proscribed and banned in many countries still manage to fortify even in some small measure their champions of terror! Certainly a wake up call for the Rajapaksha Administration to pull up its socks and get with it towards rectifying any loopholes which will permit the LTTE towads any future fancy ideas that they can attack and getaway at will.The only way this can be accomplished is to now go after them with a concerted effort towards wiping them out.

The Security forces have launched retaliatory attacks at LTTE facilities targeting speculated air base sites even in an infancy stage as reported as well as land and sea bases where hopefully these sorties aren't sporadic but done with the proper intelligence and the accuracy needed to pin point them and not random strikes at speculated targets.

Not a single stone must be left unturned in the quest to counter this new turn of events which the LTTE loosely term Air Eelam Capability as it must be proved to the Nation as well as the world that it is non existent!

The most feasible way to to accomplish this would be to make redundant by way of annihilation the LTTE even if it takes a huge rumble in the Wanni Jungle to flush Prabhakaran and his cronies from their bunkers which would surely be the beginning of their end!!

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