10 Lessons Israel Should Take From The Sri Lankan Victory Over Terror

Although most people couldn't find Sri Lanka on a map if their lives depended on it, something amazing happened this week on this beautiful Island nation that sits just south east of India in the Indian Ocean.  They did something that all of the European and American pundits had said was impossible:  They won an asymmetric war against a well entrenched, ethnically/politically motivated, insurgent terrorist army.

Since Israel has been fighting a similar war against a similarly motivated terrorist army, it would be a shame to squander some of the priceless lessons that can be taken from the Sri Lankan victory:

1.  Fighting for a draw or ceasefire will only ensure an endless war.  Fight to win or don't fight at all. A draw is a victory for the terrorists. 

2.  The rest of the world will never support a war of any kind, much less one fought against an enemy willing to use civilians as human shields and combatants.  Seeking foreign support for such a war is less than useless;  it is counterproductive.  As soon as Sri Lanka began fighting an all out, no-holds barred war against the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), the world turned against them.  Sri Lanka ignored the world and followed their chosen course of action to the desired conclusion; victory.  They did this at the cost of isolation and economic hardship.  But they won.

3.  When civil rights and the war effort bump up against one other (as they must in a war fought on home soil), there must be an accepted legal mechanism for temporarily setting aside some civil rights and personal freedoms in such a way that they can be easily and completely reclaimed by the populace once the war is over.  Societies at war are not free.  Get over it.  The sooner the war is won the sooner you'll get all your freedoms back.

4.  Civilian shields are the sole responsibility of those who hide behind them.  Once a warning has been given and the civilians have not been released, the war must be prosecuted despite the regrettable loss of human life.  Once civilians lose their value as shields they will cease to be used as such.  It remains to be seen if the world will hold the Sri Lankans or the Tigers responsible for the high civilian death toll.  But the end of the war will certainly ensure that no more civilians need die (on either side).

5.  Once an insurgent enemy abandons the conventions of 'civilized warfare', the army fighting them must do so as well (in a limited and organized way).  This does not mean the abandonment of ethics/morals or allowing government soldiers to become savages.  It means adopting new rules of engagement that place all combatants on an even footing.  It means assassination for assassination.  It means restructuring the army into small, semi-autonomous units that are more mobile and have clear objectives. It means occasionally telling soldiers to take no prisoners... especially when flags of truce are routinely used cynically to gain lethal advantage.

6.  Ask friendly nations for support, but be willing to turn to the enemies of our friends when the requested support is withheld.  Sri Lanka initially asked India for assistance and was turned down (due to the large Tamil minority in southern India).  This gave them no choice but to turn to China and even Pakistan for arms and support.  Eventually India came around.  They never actually provided material support, but once they saw Sri Lanka was serious about fighting the war to a conclusion, they stepped up efforts to stop domestic Indian support for the Tigers from being smuggled to LTTE strongholds. 

7.  Ceasefires rarely help the stronger side.  The multi-year cease fire that existed between the Tigers and the Sri Lankan government was used by the LTTE to re-arm and wage a low-intensity terror war against Sri Lankan civilian and government targets.  Each government retaliation was roundly condemned by the rest of the world as a breach of the cease-fire while each terror attack was met with indifference and resignation (sound familiar); a trend that emboldened the Tigers and won them many new supporters/combatants among the Sri Lankan Tamil minority.

8.  Insurgencies are like a cancer.  They must be removed completely or they will metastasize again and again in ever-more-dangerous incarnations.  But by the same analogy, care must be taken to differentiate between healthy (i.e. neutral) population and cancerous (insurgent) population.  As in the body, this designation isn't made by the doctors... it is apparent by observing the population.  Those who act as terrorists (or support/shelter the terrorists) are insurgents/cancer.  Those who don't are not.  Let them make their choice and then let everyone live (or die) with their choices.  I was never a big GWB fan, but one of the truest things he ever said was (paraphrased) "You are either with us or against us.  Time to choose."

9.  Being ethnically unique may entitle a population to pursue self-determination... but not necessarily at the expense of an existing sovereign nation.  Yes, it would be wonderful if every ethic and religious group had its own country.  It would also be wonderful if the global energy requirements could be met by burning rainbow dust and unicorn farts.  But the world has a finite amount of real estate, and in some cases there may need to be some multi-ethnic countries.  Sorry.  The ones who got there first and hung out a shingle get to make the rules.  Barring that, ethnic populations perpetually in conflict with their neighbors may occasionally need to seek out a new place to live near populations that are more similar to themselves. 

10.  Make sure the checks and balances of power adjust to the reality of a war footing.  New rules of engagement must be enshrined in law, and the executive/judicial branches of government must uphold (but not exceed) these new temporary powers.  An executive branch without checks is a dictator/tyrant.  A judicial branch that continues to operate on a peacetime footing during a war will undermine the government's ability and resolve to win.