Army Commander Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka has admitted in the United States last week that the military had had to sacrifice about 300 soldiers within a week-and-a-half of battle in Muhamalai.

It was a larger figure than had ever been cited by the military in Sri Lanka following the Muhamalai battles.

`However, engaging in such battles was necessary in order to deny the LTTE strategic advantage into security forces controlled areas, as they were seeking to do recently by trying to retake the Jaffna peninsula,` Fonseka is reported as telling US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns on Tuesday.

Fonseka was on a three-day official visit to the US. He met Burns for a discussion that also involved Bernarnd Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka`s ambassador to the US.

Admitting that a political solution must be found to the conflict through the continuation of peace talks, Fonseka emphasized that the LTTE must not be permitted to strengthen its military capability.

A statement from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington quotes Fonseka as saying that, during the four years of the ceasefire, there had been considerable military buildup on the part of the LTTE. Artillery pieces had risen from 10 to 100, from two 122 mm guns to 20 and from 20 heavy mortars to 80. In effect, the four year`s of ceasefire had helped the LTTE to become a stronger fighting force.

The commander expressed the view that, unless Velupillai Prabhakaran was militarily weakened, there could be no chance for peace as he would not toe the line advocated by the international community.

It was, therefore, imperative that the government checked his military capacity if only to ensure that he did not grow stronger militarily to the extent that he saw no reason to seek a political solution.

Fonseka maintained that the army was capable of checking the LTTE`s military strength and that this had been proved during the past few months. He also said the government`s operations were mainly defensive, but added that `being defensive did not mean only sitting on a line which you wanted to hold, but also seeking to pre-empt offensive action that might be directed at the troops`.

He said all operations thus conducted were within a kilometer or two from the forward defence lines, and were done solely for the purpose of preventing the enemy from advancing at a time of their choosing.

Fonseka also had meetings at the Pentagon with his counterpart General Peter Schoomaker, Chief of Staff US Army, and other senior officials of the army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Source(s)

Sunday Island

http://www.island.lk/

இலங்கையில இருந்து அமெரிக்கா போய் இதை சொல்லுறார் எண்டால் என்ன அர்த்தம்...?? அமெரிக்காவிட்ட பிச்சை எடுக்க தயார் என்பதுதானே...?? இலங்கை இராணுவத்தில் செயல்களுக்கு நியாயப்படுத்தலும் ஆதரவும் தேடுகிறார்போல...! இப்ப அமெரிக்கா என்ன குத்துகறணம் அடிக்குது எண்டுதான் பார்க்கணும்...