A giant leap towards world peace

The killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last week was welcome news for all peace-loving people the world over. Bin Laden not only masterminded the 9/11 terror attack in the United States, but also unleashed terror and instilled fear in people in most parts of the West.

In similar vein, Velupillai Prabhakaran inflicted untold misery on people in this part of the world, especially those living in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran killed a greater number of people than bin Laden. This included prominent political and social personalities, including two Heads of State.

US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert O'Blake on his visit to Sri Lanka last week, said that Prabhakaran and bin Laden were two of the world's most ruthless terrorists. Blake's forthright statement clears the air on the United States' position regarding terrorism. When asked if the death of bin Laden was viewed differently to that of Prabhakaran by the US government, Blake's prompt reply was that both Prabhakaran and bin Laden will go down in history as the most ruthless terrorist leaders. To quote Blake, bin Laden directly targeted the US, hence vanquishing the al Qaeda leader was the topmost priority of Americans. Bin Laden's death marks one of the most significant accomplishments in the United States' decades-long fight against al Qaeda.

Blake conceded that Prabhakaran was also responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Sri Lankans and the US was one of the first countries to stand with Sri Lanka to designate the LTTE as a terror organisation and moreover, the US consistently supported Sri Lanka's steadfast efforts against the LTTE terror outfit.

Blake's revelations come at a crucial time when certain quarters in the international community are attempting to level war crime charges against Sri Lanka, purely for committing the 'sin' of becoming the first country to eradicate terrorism. Having earlier served as the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Blake has first-hand experience of the LTTE's merciless terror acts in Sri Lanka and is fully aware of the LTTE's brutality.

As President Mahinda Rajapaksa had quite rightly pointed out at the United Nations General Assembly a couple of years ago, there can't be two types of terrorism: "One for the West and another for this part of the world. There can't be good terrorists and bad terrorists."

If the West is sincerely interested in eradicating global terrorism, it should commend Sri Lanka for its exemplary role and show the world how terrorism should be eradicated. Full credit goes to Sri Lanka's valiant Security Forces for having vanquished the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit which had killed an innumerable number of innocent civilians.

The US emblazoned that the killing of bin Laden was done as an act of national self-defence, countering allegations that the raid by US Commandos on his Pakistani hide-out was illegal. US Attorney General Eric Holder said that bin Laden was a legitimate military target and he had made no attempt to surrender to the American forces that stormed his fortified compound near Islamabad on Monday, and shot him in the head.

From Sri Lanka's point of view, Prabhakaran too had been a legitimate military target. The killing of Prabhakaran was also an act of national self-defence as it was incumbent on Sri Lanka's Security Forces to protect the country's sovereignty, territorial integrity and innocent civilians against terror attacks.

The US acknowledgement that bin Laden was unarmed when he was shot dead has raised concerns that Washington had violated international law. The exact circumstances of bin Laden's death remain unclear, but nevertheless could yet fuel controversy, especially in the Muslim world. The revelation that Bin Laden was unarmed contradicted an earlier US account that he had participated in a firefight with the helicopter-borne American Commandos. Al Arabiya television went a step further, suggesting that the architect of the 9/11 attacks was first taken prisoner and then shot.

However, these theories don't hold water, considering the damage he had wrought and the misery he had inflicted on the lives of the Americans for over a decade. Bin Laden deserved the punishment for the sins he had committed against humanity. He could never be absolved for killing thousands of people by masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Prabhakaran too had brutally killed a larger number of innocent civilians in various terror acts committed for nearly three decades. He met his Waterloo near the Nandikadaal lagoon for the unpardonable sins he had committed.

The deaths of Prabhakaran in 2009 and bin Laden in 2011 are an important step in the global battle against terrorism. The hard-core terrorist leaders reposed utmost faith in the bullet and cared two hoots for civilian lives. Their horrendous acts brought untold agony to hundreds of thousands of people the world over.

While commending the US Commandos for killing bin Laden and acknowledging the inalienable right of the US Forces and President Barack Obama to protect the American people, we call upon the international community not to view Sri Lanka's battle against terrorism from a different perspective. Terrorism in any quarter of the world is terrorism and should be eliminated likewise.

Sri Lanka proved in no uncertain terms that terrorism could be crushed militarily. The true sons of our soil proved to the world that they were capable of vanquishing the most brutal terrorist outfit in the world. The US Forces too hunted for 10 years to track down bin Laden after the 9/11 attack, losing men and material in the process.

Rather than pointing an accusing finger at Sri Lanka's Security Forces and attempting to undermine their Herculean feats, the international community should hail Sri Lanka and the US Forces for their supreme efforts to eliminate global terrorism. The Security Forces of the two countries had been instrumental in getting rid of the world's most ruthless terrorist leaders. Their landmark achievements would be written in letters of gold by thousands of people who suffered due to the scourge of brutal terrorism.

The killing of bin Laden coincides with the second anniversary of liberating Sri Lanka from the grip of LTTE terror and vanquishing Prabhakaran and his goons. The US Forces should be commended for following the footsteps of Sri Lanka's Security Forces in their quest to eradicate global terrorism.

Other countries too should rally round Sri Lanka and the US which had taken two giant steps in the worldwide attempt to eradicate terrorism. No person in his right senses, country or organisation should sympathise in any way with terrorists in any form whatsoever. Sympathising with terrorists is as dangerous as indulging in terror acts. The landmark achievement of the US Forces is indeed a giant leap towards world peace.