The events of the weekend have changed the future direction of Sri Lanka more than any time since I first learned about the island country formerly called Ceylon. My first visit there occurred in 1985. Since then I've been back on at least five or six different occasions. We most recently returned in 2006 and even at the moment have tickets in the drawer for a month this fall.
Every single visit provided fond memories. Every single visit was during the time of civil war. Even during times of peace treaties, the rebels were collecting arms and preparing for war with the Sri Lankan government forces including the ruthless tactics of suicide bombings and child soldiers. The country could be so much more of a paradise if thirty years of money and lives had not been wasted.
The international community is crying crocodile tears now. I am appalled by the reluctance to help destroy the Tigers. Overseas Tamil refugees have supported rebels with cash enough to buy not only an army but a navy and air-wing. In which country, so slow to criticize the 'Tamil Tigers', would an anti-government force be allowed to arm themselves on the country's soil? Were it not for the events after 9/11 and the crack down on the fund raising efforts by terrorist organizations, the LTTE would not have lost momentum. Of course the group's fall was due to other errors on the part of the leadership as well.
What this has led to today though is crucial. The LTTE is finished. Its leader, a semi-God has been killed. The Sri Lankan flag can fly on every meter of the island's land. The future will not be completely free of trouble. Still, the wheels can be set in motion for tweaking a democratic system. There was absolutely nothing democratic about the rebels leadership. I wish the legitimate Sri Lankan President as much success in reunifying the country as wiping clean the defacto thugs who inappropriately stole the representation of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.