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BBC Quick To Feature "Attack On Arms Sale By Slovakia To Sri Lanka" By Symon Hill !

Insight By Sunil Kumar For LankaWeb April11th 2008

It is the quickness of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which some think in terms of being a Biased Broadcasting Corporation to feature the above topic that strikes many as amazing and almost as though it was in agreement with the critic Symon Hill who belongs to an anti arms trade campaigning group who has criticised the sale of 10,000 military missiles by Slovakia to Sri Lanka. Come now BBC can you not do better than sing in unison with an canary who sounds as though he just might be on the payroll of the Tamil Tiger terrorists in their desperate hour ?

According to credible reports (if the credibility of the BBC is that unquestionable!) Symon Hill, from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), has said the sale was "exactly what Sri Lanka doesn't need at the moment". Curiously though! he has hadly touched on the burning issue of those who attempt to supply arms to the Tamil Tiger terrorists who are the real threat to civilians and has uttered hardly a whimper in condemnation towards this although the World at large and the entire Nation of Sri Lanka know the realities involved and the price the Nation continues to pay as a direct result of the particularly effective suppliers of arms to the LTTE! And then there are some!

Indeed Sri Lanka has been engaged in a war against internationally condemned terrorists and insurgents as opposed to the wrongly defined 'civil war' for 25 years and more albeit no civil war but an internal armed insurrection by a group of directionless terrorists whose power has been maintained upto now by the supplies of weapons from surreptitious sources from various parts of the world. For the CAAT to foment fears that, the weapons supplied through credible, legitimate and acceptable sources to the Sovereign Nation of Sri Lanka engaged in eradicating terrorists, may be used against civilians is a statement of rank ignorance or steeped in bias in favour of the terrorists. No rocket science necessary while no pun is intended!

Mr Hill has used the age old excuse with no tangible evidence or true statistics that "there are many examples of the Sri Lankan Army being accused of the killing of civilians, as often happens in civil wars" the importance of the term ''being accused" takes precedence towards the argument that accusations alone do not constitute proof of the pudding where the examples refered to are more often exaggerated, concocted or falsely portrayed but there are indeed many examples of the Armed Forces even at this very moment taking out in great numbers terrorists who are an impediment to the smooth functioning and well being of Sri Lanka and its citizens and if further fortification of the Armed resources towards this task is necessary it has to be of no concern to Mr Hill, The BBC or anyone else who harp on the theme as they could very well be supporting the terrorist cause rather than condoning the urgent need of Sri Lanka to make redundant through military means the scourge which continues to threaten the Sovereign Right towards existence and the unitarity of Sri Lanka ! Civilian casualties most unfortunately are inevitable but may it be known that the Government takes every precaution to protect them but the task never made easy as the LTTE by choice and premeditation target civilians and blame it on the Government.

A somewhat myopic reference has been made regarding the Code of conduct of the Government of Sri Lanka where certain pundits in accordance with the trend of thought expressed both by the BBC as well as the obstreperous Mr Hill, in the guise of being self acclaimed

'Analysts' have had the affront to say that because the Sri Lankan Government bans most independent observers from travelling to the war affected areas, it is impossible to know the full truth.

Here one needs to lay down the role of the Government relative to policies involving responsibilities towards safety as well as authority in the matter, an inalienable right perhaps which if waivable the independent observers in complaint might also consider attempting to penetrate other global locales which have decided to ban journalists for various reasons of which there are countless examples so why the emphasis on Sri Lanka engaged in a war with nation threatening dangerous terrorists? What of Burma, Tibet, Zimbabwe and more( lesser entities towards the indemnities) where overall most unfortunately hearsay rules but nevertheless a fact of life where Sri Lanka deserves more than acollades for the concessions to Foreign Journalists( and unwelcome dignitaries) who in turn and in rank ingratitude sometimes report pure blarney laced in bias!!

The European Union, of which Slovakia is a member indeed has a Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, designed "to prevent the export of equipment which might be used for internal repression or international aggression, or contribute to regional instability".

where contrary to Symon Hill of the CAAT's rationale which says that the Code is "so weak, so vague, with so many loopholes" according to his loose rhetoric it seems more of a personal interpretation where the responsibilities of the organizations refered to are being questioned perhaps in ignorance and which nevertheless remain rock solid towards credibilities despite the accusations! where he somewhat boldly adds that "the EU needs to be realistic about enforcing a code of conduct.

Slovakia isn't the only country that appears to have broken the code" but the bi partisanship of the EU relative to its stance on Sri Lanka of late points to the unimportance of any code which could more than likely be a creation of pro LTTE sympathy and worthless if it opposes the Sovereign right of Sri Lanka to defend itself from terrorists and fortify National Security!

The European Union's response to Mr Hill in retrospect however stands to reason as well as being correct in saying that "how the code is implemented is up to each member country. The Slovakian Economy Ministry denies that the sale is in violation of the code where emphatically the Ministry spokesman Branislav Zvara has said that "the UN Security Council's evaluation of the situation in Sri Lanka has not led it to declare an embargo on arms shipments to the country" and perhaps reason enough for Mr Hill to put up something more plausible or shut up!

Final Note~ It should be of no consequence to the BBC or Mr Hill whether the three-metre missiles are designed to be dispatched from multiple rocket launchers, missile carrying attack craft or for that matter old world catapults mounted atop bullock Carts as it is a matter concerning the Security of a Sovereign Nation in defence of its Sovereignity, Territorial Integrity and National Security from terrorists and to even dare insinuate that the danger involved would be the targetting of civillians is libellous talk against the Nation of Sri Lanka, her administration and credibility where both sources the BBC and Mr.Hill should exercise extreme caution about such loose tonged and irresponsible dispensations!.



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