NationStates Jolt Archive

Tamil rebels trapped in a tiny enclave of northern Sri Lanka have declared a ceasefire, a rebel spokesman says.

The Tamil Tigers (LTTE) had given up their fight against a major government offensive and "decided to silence our guns", he said on a pro-Tamil website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8054169.stm

So... What happens now? Is the war over for good? Is the fight for a Tamil homeland over? Or will the Tamil Tigers return to terrorist attacks / guerilla warfare / asymetrical warfare? Is this just a temporary thing?

Can there be peace? What can be done to reconcile the different parties?

Do you care at all?

I did not realize that there was such a war.

I did not realize that there was such a war.

No surprise. It's lasted for 26 years, so it's nothing newsworthy.

They invented suicide bombing so I suspect that those still left will go back to it.

There will still be sporadic attacks. However, the actual war is over.

They have no choice but to "Silence their guns" they don't have any guns left. For the past several months the government has forced them out of every strongpoint they held.

They invented suicide bombing so I suspect that those still left will go back to it.
Japan did it first. Though the Tigers might have the first use of using planes to hit civilian buildings.

According to the Guardian, Prabhakaran and the rest of the LTTE leadership might have blown themselves up. I always got the impression that without the leadership (and specifically Prabhakaran), the Tigers wouldn't be so focused on violence. He does seem a bit of a nutjob. Assuming he is dead, then, I imagine this likely is the end - at least until they have a new leader in the same sort of mould.

I hope it's over. Time will tell I suppose.

Japan did it first. Though the Tigers might have the first use of using planes to hit civilian buildings.

What I meant was they invented the bomb strapped to the a person who walks into the target and blows themselves and the target up.

What I meant was they invented the bomb strapped to the a person who walks into the target and blows themselves and the target up.

Japan was planning on that. But the USA never invaded.

Japan was planning on that. But the USA never invaded.

Okay, they invented the suicide bomb belt and pioneered the use of it as a tactic. If you tell me the Japanese did that I may have to hunt you down and lock you in a small box. My point is that they have lost a war as an army so will probably just become a small hardcore terrorist group using suicide bombing. There are still Tamils in Sri Lanka and they get some support from outside the country, mainly other Tamils in India.

Okay, they invented the suicide bomb belt and pioneered the use of it as a tactic. If you tell me the Japanese did that I may have to hunt you down and lock you in a small box. My point is that they have lost a war as an army so will probably just become a small hardcore terrorist group using suicide bombing. There are still Tamils in Sri Lanka and they get some support from outside the country, mainly other Tamils in India.
The Japanese- Wait, there's a knock on my door. I wonder who it is...:wink:

The Sri Lankan goverment 'won' before. What followed was years of terrorist attacks rather than direct military action. Given that the Tamil people are no more accepting of Sinhalese rule than they were before I doubt that its going to be different this time.

The only difference will be that there will be more terrorist/guerrilla attacks and less co-ordinated warfare by the Tamils, and the oppression of the Tamils by the Sinhalese will be more widespread.

This cease fire will be about the same as PLO/IDF cease fire. 2-5 years of relative peace, then right back where we started.

The LTTE no longer has the resources to prosecute a war. They'll fall back to terrorist tactics and bombings for a long time, especially as many of their funding sources have dried up in recent years, since the West declared the LTTE a terrorist organization and forbade the sending of monies.

The real question will be whether the LTTE can develop a new generation of leaders and political spokesmen. If they can, the struggle will go on; if not, they'll go the way of the Red Brigades and the Baader-Meinhof Gang, dissolution and eventual irrelevance.

I'm not sanguine about them doing that, most such "Liberation Movements" do not survive the loss of their leadership. The devolution of the Shining Path into basic banditry is probably the best case in point. However, regardless of whether they manage it or not, the LTTE's terror branch will be with us for several years to come.