Foxy,

I guess that someone that has never left the comfort of the suburbs, the reality of war eludes you.

For decades the Tamil tigers have murdered thousands of civilians, bombed public places and used the North as their own private fiefdom and dictatorship. At some point the killing had to stop. The attack by the government wasn't completely clean, but the Tigers were deliberately hiding themselves amongst civilians who had to remain or be shot.

Now the war is over 5 years ago, the killing has stopped, and Sri Lanka is rebuilding, and the usual sanctimonious idiots are wanting to review the war through filters that have never been applied to any other conflict, and the Sri Lankan government is not impressed.

Without the government's support, the investigation is futile. The Sri lankan government's attempt to save its citizens from exploitation and dead at the hands of the people traffickers that Labor supported should be applauded.

SM,

You really appear to be a very ignorant man.

Take your blinkers off, stop spouting your
Party's mantra - and do a bit of research for
yourself -
as to what was going on in Sri Lanka five years
ago, and what's happening there now.
How the government controls the press - how they
still torture and kill people.

Stalin also denied the Ukraine Famine, and other atrocities.
The Soviet Regime has always denied the operation of concentration
camps - which they expanded into their draconian system
to include psychiatrict wards, thereby raising torture,
suppression, and murder to a science (vividly disclosed to
the free world by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn).

Do your research on Sri Lanka - you just may learn something.

cont'd ...

SM,

You can start with this:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-25/howie-australias-silence-on-sri-lanka-is-deafening/5342796

Dear SM,

You wrote;

“TA's humanitarian credentials are far stronger than anyone's in Labor or the Greens, with decades as a volunteer for fire and surf rescue, fundraising for charity and involvement in indigenous affairs. The saving of hundreds of lives at sea is just the cherry on top.”

Excellent points, they are definitely going on the nomination form, and I have many mates who will be tickled pink to learn their involvement in the CFA and SLCs has now elevated them to 'great humanitarian' status.

And I think Foxy has a huge amount of cheek insinuating you are an apologist for war criminals. She needs to accept as the rest of us do that the Sri Lankan government has repeatedly stated there were NO CIVILIAN DEATHS in the closing stages of the war. In fact it clearly was in reality a vast humanitarian undertaking, or from your perspective, a grand rescue operation, for which the government should be applauded.

I really think Tony could extend his humanitarian credentials by explaining to our two biggest allies, Britain and the US, how wrong they were for sponsoring this resolution at the UN, to tell them it was a magnificent rescue mission and that they too should be arming the Sri Lankan military so it too can continue its great humanitarian endevours. I'm sure with his sterling humanitarian CV they will be all ears.

Anyway it looks like I have The Big Moof's endorsement that leaves one more spot to fill.

Foxy,

You definitely appear to be a very ignorant woman!

If you bothered to read up about the conflict in Sri Lanka over the last 5 decades referring to objective historians rather than left whinge opinion pieces, you might be able to offer more than fluffy generalities and incorrect figures.

The questions that need to be asked are:

- Whether the situation before the final phase of the war was sustainable. Given the the appalling atrocities committed by the Tamil tigers on a regular basis, the devastation of the economy and the grinding misery inflicted on all Sri Lankans the answer is clearly NO.
- Is the situation now is better than before the war was resolved and continuously improving, and the answer is an overwhelming YES.
- Was this a conventional war with defined targets and combatants easily differentiated from civilians? Clearly NO.
- Did the government forces have sophisticated weapons to enable them to selectively target enemy forces and spare civilian targets. Clearly NO.
- Did the government have highly trained and disciplined soldiers, NO.
- Did the Tigers deliberately mingle with civilians and actively use them as shields, YES.

All of these are recipes for disaster, and the final question that should be asked is whether the government army had any real alternative to ending the war, and the answer is not without drastically prolonging the war.

Using the filter modern humanitarians would like to apply that exceeds anything in the Geneva convention not only wildly unrealistic, but extremely unhelpful. Given that not only has this "inquiry" not got the support of the Security council or any of the countries in any position to assist, this is yet another example of gesture politics.

Sri Lanka may not be a model democracy, but is far better than most in the 3rd world, and vastly improved from 5 years ago. Most of the refugees are lifestyle migrants, and turning them around is the safest and most human option.

High Court agrees to hear challenge to processing asylum seekers on Manus Island.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-03/high-court-agrees-to-hear-challenge-to-processing-of-asylum-see/5364360

Shame this govt isn't powerful enough to nobble the High Court, eh?

Should be interesting....