The Hard-Nosed Realism of General Sarath Fonseka -“ Dayan Jayatilleka
SRI LANKA'S MOST successful Army Commander, serving under Sri Lanka's militarily most successful Commander-in Chief and President, and most dedicated Defence Secretary, has held an important discussion with Colombo's foreign correspondents on our most essential topic, the war. That General Fonseka is our most successful army commander may be hotly debated in the subjective and partisan Sri Lankan media, but not by top professionals overseas. Gen Ashok Mehta, formerly of the Gurkhas, once the youngest general to serve in the Indian army, and IPKF commander Batticaloa-Ampara sector, had this to say in the April 15th 2008 issue of The Tribune (Chandigarh): [Sri Lankan] \"Government forces have never before enjoyed military and moral ascendancy over the LTTE as now\". Note the word \"never\". He followed this up even more conclusively in a June 17 article (reproduced online in the Sri Lanka Guardian): \"Never before in the ongoing 30-year long war have the Sri Lankan Security Forces been better placed to defeat the LTTE. This has come about by a combination of proactive political, diplomatic and military measures. Two key developments choreographed by the government facilitated a favourable outcome of the military campaign\", granting the political leadership – President Rajapakse -- due credit for this achievement unprecedented in three decades.
