Thus well crafted perception and ground reality are not the same species. Being well on the way to defeating a 30+ year brutal, terrorist insurgency The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka will not cave to a war of rhetoric.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090202/us…
Senator Kerry and Senator Lugar, having met both of you distinguished gentlemen, and taking the fleeting opportunity to speak of Sri Lanka in the course of other business that was being discussed; I pray that you will take a moment and truly analyze the situation at hand without reaching pre-packaged conclusions via media, terrorist organizations or their supporters.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090202/us…
“Sri Lanka does not allow independent media free access to the island's conflict zone and to the camps housing those displaced civilians who have managed to flee the fighting.”
Sri Lanka cannot guarantee the safety or well-being of reporters or aid workers in the conflict zone. Those that choose to operate in conflict theatres have already been denied access to leave by LTTE. These include UN aid workers and families, clergy, wounded civilians, aid convoys etc. As recently as one and a half weeks ago, LTTE elements were infringing into IDP camps and causing deaths and injury there. There is limited access as many areas are not as yet demined and open access prior to LTTE surrender creates opportunities for operatives to lay mines, create booby traps and as recently witnessed, hack civilians to death. That is why camps are currently a high security restricted zone. Now, if this level of security extended to years and years, I could understand international concern, but that is not the case. Furthermore, some of these same aid agencies and their affiliates are at a loss to explain what happened with previous aid funds for disaster relief. Situations exist that indicate those funds were greatly misappropriated and used to support terrorist activities instead of civilian populations. Seemingly, this has given rise to conflict between INGOs, NGOs, Media vs. Military. As through clearing operations, it has been discerned, that though there are many submarines, airplanes, transmission towers, stocks of arms, squandered relief supplies, purloined vehicles etc. there is naught housing for tsunami victims. There isn’t agricultural development of an expected scale. The schools, hospitals and large parts of infrastructure are maintained and developed by the government.
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_sto…
http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_sto…
The anti-corruption program didn’t gather dust. In fact the outcome of the investigation that found the opposition complicity was negated by these same parties. The FMM has been proved to be extraordinarily corrupt at its top levels, “USAID had categorized Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Free Media Movement (FMM) and Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) as implementing partners of the ACP.” The other 2 organizations I have not read about.
“But nothing could be as revealing as the Auditor General faulting a mega-UNDP funded project to modernise parliament launched during the previous UNF administration.” The UNF is equivocal with the UNP.
Furthermore, the public/private partnerships in corruption must be equally exposed for as I have noticed in my limited research the profit is not in the public sector but in the private cohort, the operational mechanisms have to change on both ends.
Sri Lanka is in a unique situation, as she has lived through such a long term of conflict the media reports from 15 years to as many as 37 years. During the entire tenure of conflict Sri Lanka has maintained responsibility to its citizens for universal education, universal healthcare and scores of other benefits. War profiteering (many times extraordinarily corrupt) exists with any party that can wheedle their way into a conflict theatre.
The level of corruption outlined in the following is staggering: “This was in response to severe criticism against INGOs including UN agencies by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa that the army hadn’t come across any new constructions in the liberated areas in the Vanni despite millions of US dollars spent by INGOs/NGOs. The Defence Secretary in media interviews, pointed out that new construction including underground facilities in the Vanni region had belonged to the LTTE.”
http://www.asianage.com/presentation/lef…
Expats are given many safe and legal options for sending money home for families and communities by the government as well as opportunities to invest in the growth and development of the nation.
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/1542…
The Media has been showing old footage of conflict and attributing it t
Is it not well known that facts and film do not always coincide? ?
And if I go through all of this, will I have a Real Shaz 3 degree at the end of it? That's allot of material!!!!
Yes, friend, most of us do realize that most news stories need to be taken with a grain of salt, if they are to be believed at all. Movies and documentaries even more so. The main problem in my book is that it is a big world and I do not have time to review all of it on a daily basis. There needs to be an element of trust in outside sources to help me decide which corners to investigate today. It sounds like the %26quot;Real Shaz 3%26quot; source is suggesting I investigate Sri Lanka. ?Porque no?
Is it not well known that facts and film do not always coincide? ?
Any media is to be taken with extreme caution. Especially print media. In other words they lie, all of them.
It is well known to any rational person. A great example would be the movie The Day After Tomorrow.
indeed
