How can an evacuation strategy could be worked out without talking to or taking into the considerations of the Tamil people? In this case it has to be the 'Tigers' who represents the Tamils. One cannot force the civilians into the control of Srilankan army without their consent or without discussing the acceptable alternative arrangements to be made to them. Tamilians are not slaves who can be pushed from place to place without bothering what they think or what they actually want to do.

The first priority of the international community is to ensure a cease fire. Next is to arrange adequate food and medical supplies. Then let them discuss with both the parties how to prevent civilian casualities and accordingly act.

Whether they need to be evacuated, if so how & where they have to be rehabilitated etc should be discussed first and then suitable action should be taken under the supervision of international monitors.

Any country or group of countries should not take unilateral action and force themselves in and complicate the crisis further.

Srilankan army should not be allowed to utilize this situation to their advantage by putting more Tamils into their 'concentration camps' and drive them into subjugation.

That the United States of America, from the other side of the world, has been forced to consider a mission to rescue what is left of the Sri Lankan Tamil Community is a stinging indictment of India's utter impotence in the face of the intransigence of the Sri Lankan Government and it exposes India's inability to realize her aspirations to play the role of regional superpower and the hollowness of her claims thereto. Her impotence in the face of the adventurism of Sri Lankas government has led to a serious de stabilization of regional geo strategic equations with China having made major inroads that leave South Asia exposed.

Such an American initiative may prove to be far from elegant and may lead to the need for a protracted engagement in relief and rehabilitation, but it will put paid once and for all to Chinas ambitions of determining the future of South Asia and will relegate India to the position of a client power of the USA. India had her opportunity to prover herself and she has proved herself incapable. The future of South Asia may now be determined by a Sino American alliance that develops the island - the USA the North and East and China the South - while India plays a minor role that services the actions.

India despite her size has - unlike China - shown herself to be disorganized, to be sharply lacking in perceptual ability, and to be weak in strategic competence.

Sri Lanka, like Sudan, is a "wild buffalo on a rampage". Both internally and internationally, both countries are arrogantly defiant on matters of safety, security, justice and the rights, of a section of their citizenry, who are repressed constitutionally.

Sri Lanka(SL) and Sudan resort to military solution to situations wanting a political solution. They know fully well that military force would kill more civilians, create more hunger, more displacements and make the situation more intractable. In other words, they deliberately prefer genocide under their militarys' watch than a political solution.

The recent history of SL and Sudan have parallels. Sudan refused to allow a UN force in Darfur, fearing exposure to rights violations. SL on the otherhand refused to allow UN Human Rights Monitors, denied access to their judicial system to a group of eminent persons appointed by the Commonwealth, Unilaterally called a Ceasefire Agreement brokered by the International Community in 2002 and recently turned down a request by Britain to assist with an experienced special envoy.

International Criminal Court(ICC), issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Al bashir, the president of Sudan, last Thursday. He is charged with war crimes and rights violations for the genocidal events in Darfur. In retaliation, he expelled some aid workers immediately.

Also last week, Bruce Fein told a gathering in London that evidence for charges of war crimes and genocide, against Sarath Fonseka, the military commander, and Gotabaya Rajapakse has been presented to the US Justice Department.

Wheels of justice grind slowly but surely it does. ICC arrest warrent on Mahinda Rajapakse is also imminent.

Trust is earned. The performance of governemnt itself and the political institutions such as parliament, judiciary and the army diffuse trust. Political trust therefore relates to how people feel and think about any government and its politics.

For the past 60 years, the governments in Colombo have failed to gain the political trust of the people of North East(NE). Now the people of NE will not rust Colombo at all for their lives and future. Therefore, any internal solution for the prevention of genocide is impossible. It is criminal to handover victims to a genocidal state.

Regional Peace Keeping Forces have normally proved to be ineffective in solving humanitarian and genocidal problems because of their friendly relations of the heads of state in the region. They even give tacit support for rights violations, to receive support in return.

The failure of IPKF was mainly caused by the friendly relations of JR Jeyawardene, the then president, and Rajiv Gandhi. It interfered with peace keeping function. Violating the peace accord SL navy arrested about 21 LTTE combatants and Rajiv gave consent for the arrest within weeks of signing the accord.

Strangely, though Tamils are presently suffering unspeakable agony, murder, bombing, starvation and rights violations, none of the countries in the region have called these atrocities what they are - genocide.

Silence is support. Rhetoric of ceasefire is time wasting. Frozen UN action will result in more civilian casualties. realism is vital. Relief from the prsesnt genocide could come only by appropriate resolutions in the UN and multi national action.

The UN has a covenant obligation to intervene with meaningful measures until human tragedy is stopped. Establishing a genocide Tribunal for SL, posting UN forces, arresting war criminals and doing justice should be facilitated with utmost urgency. Calls for ceasefire by the UN has only caused more defiance, dangerous bombing and brutal starving of civilians.

I am not sure how much of K.P. Nayar's reporting is true. I seriously doubt some things in his report (given the responses to my own communication with the State Dept and Ambassador Blake in Colombo). But if this is true, I share the views of Crazyoldman on India. Here is a country claiming to be a super power and trying to become a member of the UN security council, acting like a headless chicken in handling its policy toward a tiny, failing country acting like it is on drugs.

Has the US factored in the real possibility of a majority of trapped Tamils wanting to stay with their own fighters the Tigers? In such a situation whose bidding will the US follow – GoSL’s or LTTE’s? The answer is obvious to me. I hope these are all worked out with both parties to avoid further complications.

A word of caution. Knowing the character of the Sinhala nation very well I can safely assume an attempt at killing the Tamils in the southern areas outside the north and east should any such humanitarian mission be launched. While this is not a reason to hesitate to save the Sri Lankan Tamils, it is a factor that calls not for restraint but for a comprehensive security strategy that covers the entire island and ensures that due process of law and order is preserved and the islands democratic framework held intact for the duration of the humanitarian mission and after. The south led by Army Commander Sarath Fonseka is very likely to take to arms in a genocidal attack aimed at wiping out the Tamils. A military state backed by the international axis built by Sri Lankas Dayan Jayatillaka with China in the lead may well emerge. What Indias position will be is yet unknown given the deep divisions within her strategic function due to the antipathy felt by her dominant white skinned northern citizenry towards their black skinned Tamil brothers and sisters of the south.

Pre emption of such a development will probably involve the stationing of a large airborn rapid deployment force that can secure Tamils in the hill country and especially the Sabaragamuwa province from such a massacre as well as the securing of the seven person who have so far shown themselves able and willing to lead and preside over the genocide of the Tamils in Sri Lanka - Mahinda, Gothabaya and Basil Rajapaksa, Keheliya Rambukwalla, Sarath Fonseka, Champika Ranawaka and Mervyn Silva. The humanitarian initiative must take such complexities into account and move rapidly to engage them all.

Even at this stage, there must be some understanding that the LTTE is different from the Tamils. The LTTE stole the Tamil leadership when the community felt that it had no option without realizing that Prabhakaran's motives may be counter to the Tamil interests. The Tamils were cheated all along but being cheated by the LTTE was the worst. Having started in all pretenses as a liberation movement. it eventually forced the community into total subjugation by force.

I have reason to believe that my worst fears are not unfounded. Reports indicate that intelligence operatives are circulating the position that "Now that Mahinda has finished the Tigers the Tamils in the North will soon be wiped out. Get ready now to finish off the Tamils in the South." This is being circulated at the lower levels of urban society - autorickshaw drivers, household help, street vendors, and drivers. In addition Gothabaya Rajapaksa has set up an electronic data base that gives full details of all citizens including their ethnicity. Unlike 1983 this time around the government will not to rely on data provided by the Mathru Bhumi Movement and the operational capacity of the Jathika Sevaka Sangama for its ethnic cleansing - instead it will be the army and the defense ministry that does the job with the fulsome blessings of the presidency itself.

I will be pleased to see if american forces evacuate our brothers from the clutches of terrorists.