The height of pompous stupidity

The photo shows the President Rajapakse of Sri Lanka receiving a Guard of Honor from the army. At first glance, this doesn't seem unusual. Every Head of State receives such honors from the armed forces of his/her country once in a while.

But this photo does not tell the whole story. It was taken two days ago in Kilinochchi, till recently the de facto capital of the LTTE, the Tamil Tigers, who have been fighting a brutal civil war in Sri Lanka for more than 25 years. Rajapakse was accompanied by the commanders of the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Defence Secretary (his brother) and the Chief of Police. And therein lies the height of stupidity.

The LTTE are now cornered to a tiny area, less than 10 sq.km. by all accounts. Nevertheless, they are known as the world's deadliest suicide bombers (they invented suicide bombing), still possess long range weapons, and till recently flew rickety planes that bombed the capital Colombo, which is hundreds of miles away. Had they got word of Rajapakse's majestic arrival, they may have launched an attack, by air or by land, that could have wiped out the President and the military command in one blow. Time and again, former Sri Lankan Presidents and military commanders have been attacked and/or killed by the LTTE. For the President and the top brass to be at one location is taking a huge risk that could jeopardize the country and certainly the war, which the government is on the verge of winning.

At least one helicopter is seen in the background, obviously used by the President for his travel. More would have been used by the military commanders. When soldiers are getting seriously injured at the front and need immediate transportation to hospitals, only trucks and tractors are used. The helicopter(s) could have been better used for such purposes. The red carpet and the spick and span soldiers are also noteworthy. A red carpet when visiting a war front in the jungle? I've never seen Presidents Bush or Obama walking on red carpets when visiting Iraq or Afghanistan. Red carpets are for state visits or ceremonial occasions, away from war fronts. And how many hours of manpower were wasted to lay out the carpet and for the soldiers to be spruced up? Maybe they, too, were flown-in from Colombo.

A major election is round the corner, so the President was making full use of a photo opportunity, as the conquering hero who is triumphing over the LTTE. But compare that with the photo below, of Tamil refugee children lining up for food? No helicopters or red carpets for them.


Children lining-up for food in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka