“So many factors have contributed to the success of the Sri Lankan forces. There was a clear aim and mandate from the political level to the official level and to the military level to destroy the LTTE at any cost. There was no ambiguity in that,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the BBC. “ The rebels thought the international community, especially neighbouring India, would intervene looking at the civilian suffering ”
And from Boyd’s Patterns of Conflict:
Break guerillas’ moral-mental-physical hold over the population, destroy their cohesion, and bring about their collapse via political initiative that demonstrates moral legitimacy and vitality of government and by relentless military operations that emphasize stealth/fast-tempo/fluidity-of-action and cohesion of overall effort.*If you cannot realize such a political program, you might consider changing sides! Page 108
An interesting little article about a long and brutal little war and it’s conclusion. The thing I picked up on was the split in leadership within the Tamils and how that helped to bring about their defeat in the Eastern Province. Actually there are all sorts of interesting little happenings that we can learn from in this conflict. Bravo to the Sri Lankan military. –Matt
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How Sri Lanka’s military won
By Anbarasan Ethirajan
BBC News
2009/05/22
Few believed him when Sri Lanka’s powerful defence secretary said he required three years to defeat the once invincible Tamil Tiger rebels.
When Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the assertion, the Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [LTTE], controlled nearly one third of the country, had a well-organised, ruthless fighting unit, sufficient stocks of heavy weapons, a small navy and a rudimentary air force.