{"id":191455,"date":"2018-06-20T12:25:30","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T06:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=191455"},"modified":"2018-06-25T02:09:21","modified_gmt":"2018-06-24T20:39:21","slug":"where-laymen-blunder-into-thickets-infantry-warfare-in-the-vanni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/where-laymen-blunder-into-thickets-infantry-warfare-in-the-vanni\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Laymen Blunder Into Thickets: Infantry Warfare In The Vanni"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Roberts<\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Michael Roberts<\/p><\/div>\n

In his typically feisty style Mark Salter has taken issue <\/a>with the characterization of a statement in his To End a Civil War<\/em> as \u201cinfantile\u201d \u00a0(within an article<\/a>based on the Lt Col Gash files[1]<\/a>). Salter\u2019s assertion is from an UTHR report which in turn is based on appraisals provided by Tamil civilians who survived the last stages of the war. Here I address both Salter and Rajan Hoole, a friend of mine and the central figure behind the exhaustive 2009 UTHR reports.<\/p>\n

A<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Neither Hoole nor Salter attend to four critical facets in the conditions bearing on the specific claims from Tamil civilians. A1.<\/strong> Through the last five\/six months of Eelam War IV many Tiger fighters were not wearing uniforms so that advancing SLA infantryman had to consider every able-bodied person[1]<\/strong> within sight as a potential enemy \u2013 in conditions of partial sightings amongst shrub and debris and the awareness that the Tigers deployed individuals in fearless suicide attacks.[2]<\/strong> A2.<\/strong>Thus, the civilians who raised this complaint in Hoole\u2019s presence did not consider an overarching issue: namely, the powerful shadow of occluded identity, compounded as it was by the trees, shrubs and buildings in the specific landscape features of the \u201cLast Redoubt<\/strong>.\u201d[3]<\/strong> How could any SL Army identify him or her as civilian?[4]<\/strong> A3.<\/strong> While the civilian witnesses may perhaps be excused for neglecting this fact, how is it that Rajan Hoole and Mr. Salter did not apply elementary common sense in assessing this allegation? Did they attend to the manner in which landscape and time of day\/night condition warring activity on the ground? Note my elaborations on this aspect in an Appendix. A4. <\/strong>The basic duty of an infantryman is to his colleagues around him; he is not expected to peep into a bunker and inquire \u201ckavuda mehey innay<\/em>\u201d and have his head blown off if an enemy fighter is hiding therein. His fundamental duty is to remain alive and fighting.<\/p>\n