I don’t oppose all wars… What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war… A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics. Speech by Sen. Barack Obama, delivered on 26 October 2002 at an anti-war rally in Chicago I’m […]
Tag Archives: LTTE
Eastern “elections”
In the backdrop of a country at war and democracy that’s hostage to the whim and fancy of a President and his coterie of murderous brutes, it’s hard to be even cautiously optimistic about the upcoming elections in the East. For the average voters in the South however, the fact that they are being held […]
Post-CFA politics, war and peace in Sri Lanka
Sunanda Deshapriya and Sanjana Hattotuwa[1] Article written for Mail Today. It was a bloody New Year. The high profile assassination of an Opposition MP and a bomb explosion in the heart of Colombo are tragic markers of what 2008 holds for Sri Lanka. To add to the drama, the Government of Sri Lanka on the […]
What we can expect in Sri Lanka in 2008
It is impossible to prophesise political developments in Sri Lanka with any degree of accuracy. For starters, there is little that is logical about party politics and nothing that is principled. From the pathological condition of politicking for short-term and personal gain to random acts of terrorism and responses that change individual and communal fortunes […]
A friend of the regime
The first Rajapakse I knew, closely related to the current President, was from over ten years ago, in a different country at a time when the Executive of the day had begun a “war for peace” campaign that was also sold as the only way in which peace could be achieved and soon. We were […]
A language of hate and harm
I find the language of choice in politics today to be utterly disgusting and at the same time fascinating. It’s the first because so much of what is articulated is bitter invective, baseless allegations, wild imaginings or useless polemics. It is essentially nonsense – like conch shells, our politicians and public servants today simply produce […]
