Wonder which side (of the west/UN versus China) has the better grasp on the reality of human rights, say, in the eyes of Africans and South Americans, Mid-easterners and central Asians?

Is it better to lose 100,000 people in a year’s high-tempo combat and settle the issue and allow the people to create peace, or is it better to lose 100,000 people in 25 years of terrorism and low-tempo combat and never settle any issue nor ever allow the people to create peace –?

If you were a commander in a war and could pick either USA or PRC for your ally, ceteris paribus, which side would you pick, and which side would you most fear opposing?

Sri Lanka has a population of 20 million, with an estimated 14% being Tamil. Round it to 3 million. So, the overwhelming majority of the Tamils are not in the remaining LTTE enclave of an estimated 10,000. Those 10,000 will probably die, but most likely from cyanide pills. (The Times article also gives a UN estimate of 30-70 thousand in the enclave, but as the enclave is now around a half square mile, the 10,000 figure seems more realistic.)

The Leftish truth is that the Japanese are a non-white, third world people, which in that system translates to an unchallengeable authentic victim, incapable of racist motive or unjustifiable homicidal rage. Any action, however brutal or vicious, must be the undiluted product of – and completely appropriate response to – Colonial Capitalist oppression.

Ain’t it wonderful how a good hurtle to the LEFT makes a body accept tautologies as the basis for all logic? How does a Leftish ever manage to figure out something as subtle as how to use an elevator?

All government is FORCE. Force is the ability to project power. And all power is derived from the barrel of a GUN. It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword. This is only a partial truth and as such is a lie. The pen is a catalyst not a weapon. Only those men willing to back up their words with action are capable of wielding power.

If all of the above is accepted then it follows that only men of good morals are capable of good government. All others will end with tyranny of evil. This is something that was clearly understood by the founding fathers of the United States. Unfortunately it is something that cannot be inculcated into the next generation through genetics. It has to be taught. It has to be enforced. It has to be rigid and intolerant of modification. Lest it be mutated into extinction.

“To be legitimate, rebels have to be able to win and they have to be accountable for their actions.”

No, to be legitimate, it has to be founded upon the principles of the natural rights of man. All else leads to tyranny and oppression.

Sri Lanka was finally able to overcome asymmetric war by focusing on their strengths and neutralizing the natural advantages of the rebels. The government found other sources of aid outside the West (China and Pakistan), hardened itself to the inevitable demonization by Western media and diplomats and concentrated on winning the military struggle. This is a rare thing to find anymore.

The LTTE is a good example of what really drives rebellions. It’s not actual grievance. There are plenty of people on the planet more persecuted than the Tamils. It’s a leadership that’s utterly ruthless and willing to kill any opponents to their rule. That ruthlessness served them well until confronted with a government that was just as uncompromising.

The government won not by addressing the “root causes” of Tamil anger, or by negotiating a peace agreement with the “legitimate” leaders of the Tamils, but by destroying that leadership. The Tigers were only in charge by virtue of force and terror. That became increasingly evident as they cowered behind their imprisoned civilians.

One of the things that really bugs me about the international system is that anyone who can gather more than a thousand armed men becomes the legitimate voice of a people, solely because there are enough AK-47s at his command. At that level, it’s not elections or institutions or methods of government that matter, but simple force. This amazing hypocrisy in the international treatment of governments vs. rebels kills thousands of people every year. A government that controls violence is far superior to a rebel movement that offers nothing else, whatever it’s stated aims.

To be legitimate, rebels have to be able to win and they have to be accountable for their actions. An international community that defends the LTTE when it continues to fight after it’s clearly been defeated, and as it endangers the people it claims to represent, does no service to anyone. More people die as a result of this outlook.