{"id":54495,"date":"2016-05-06T21:51:06","date_gmt":"2016-05-07T03:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=54495"},"modified":"2016-05-06T14:43:36","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T21:43:36","slug":"a-political-role-for-the-armed-forces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/05\/06\/a-political-role-for-the-armed-forces\/","title":{"rendered":"A political role for the Armed Forces"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ratanapala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

6 May 2016<\/p>\n

It is our armed forces who goes to defend the country under the command of our politicians. They have to advance, retreat, hand over won over ground, become hostages of the enemy, face torture in their torture chambers and get humiliated by the enemy by providing escort \u00a0to the enemy at the whims and fancies of the politicians. They have sacrificed their lives in thousands, and there are thousands who are maimed and disabled. Today they are charged with committing war crimes, while terrorist who committed mass murder are being released without having to face any charges. TNA the LTTE rump sits in parliament occupying the lofty heights of being called the official opposition and Sambadan, the TNA leader is the Leader of the Opposition.<\/p>\n

When things get out of hand due to sheer political mishandling it is the armed forces who are called to face the enemy. LTTE became a force to reckon with only due to initial mishandling of the initial build up of terrorist forces and blundering by the politicians. They have to go to war not out of their choosing, but to placate the sometimes blundering and idiotic wishes of the political party in power. In the battle field facing terrorists, who follow no rules, not under any obligation to follow the Geneva Conventions on War, they have to think about all the conventions in conducting the war. Any little deviation is highlighted as violations of the Geneva Conventions and war crimes. None of the politicians had ever in their miserable but luxurious lives had to face such split second decisions which concerns one\u2019s own life, those of their comrades as well of others including civilians. All this, while serving the country for a paltry remuneration and being retrenched once the hostilities are over to face life alone, unsung and as of now vilified as criminals.<\/p>\n

Over the last 30 years due to bungling commands issued by politicians and those who made a business out of war, thousands of our war heroes \u00a0perished under most appalling circumstances \u2013 Mullaitivu, Pooneryn and Elephant Pass come to mind.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka and other similar countries do not have the luxury of developed countries where Armed Forces can be kept separate from the political process. They have to find their place at the Legislature the Parliament to voice their opinions and concerns regarding matters of security of the state and war. If it is they who have to face the music when all hell loose, let them at least have their say where laws and other matters concerning their work, conduct and welfare are discussed.<\/p>\n

Currently in spite of the growing threat of terrorism and illegal migrants some of whom could be terrorists from across the Palk Straits our Armed Forces are being made to abandon strategically located bases and fortifications. It must be noted that the\u00a0 State has the right to take over and occupy any land to further the common interest after paying due compensation. <\/strong><\/p>\n

For the Armed Forces it is just a one way street \u2013 follow orders – don\u2019t talk back! For how long are they to remain just cannon fodder at the disposal of the politicians? Their voices must be heard. Best place for this is at the Parliament \u2013 the Legislature where laws are made!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ratanapala 6 May 2016 It is our armed forces who goes to defend the country under the command of our politicians. They have to advance, retreat, hand over won over ground, become hostages of the enemy, face torture in their torture chambers and get humiliated by the enemy by providing escort \u00a0to the enemy at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ratanapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54495\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}