Thank God

Someone reputable finally said it.

Robert Kaplan: To Catch a Tiger

"So is there any lesson here? Only a chilling one. The ruthlessness and brutality to which the Sri Lankan government was reduced in order to defeat the Tigers points up just how nasty and intractable the problem of insurgency is. The Sri Lankan government made no progress against the insurgents for nearly a quarter century, until they turned to extreme and unsavory methods. Could they have won without terrorizing the media and killing large numbers of civilians? Perhaps, but probably not without help from the Chinese, who, in addition to their military aid, gave the Sri Lankan government diplomatic cover at the UN Security Council.

These are methods the U.S. should never use. But the fact that this is what it took for the Sri Lankan government to subdue the Tamil Tigers makes clear just what a hard grind lies ahead for the U.S. in Afghanistan."

You really must read the entire article to get a flavor for just how despicable the methods of the Sri Lankan government were. And why it is so important for Westerners not to romanticize those practices as they consider how to deal with their own terrorist threats.

Not to mention that, typically, such methods, in the past, used by imperial and non-imperial governments for much of civilization's history, have generally come back to haunt them. Let's hope that is not the case in Sri Lanka. But I have my serious doubts.

We absolutely can do better. And must. For the sake of the values and the people for whom we fight.