Notes from a War on Terror: Vanguard

[nightkraawler]

this is idiotic, give the tamil people rights now, and the people of sri lanka will have them on their side, it would make the tigers obsolete. right now they are stuck in a catch 22. I dont agree with terrorism , and I dont think people should be treated as second class citizens either. Those that are most civilized should take the 1st step not result to meeting barbaric violence with more armed conflict, that's not being civilized.

[moncherry801]

war that was war so we try to aovid

[89rodrigo]

damn mariana is hot as hell!!!

[MrTheHyperactive]

@89rodrigo I totally agree with you :-) some older aged women are far more interesting than younger women

[GlobalFocusNow]

Amazing. Big thanks for this video!

[dylanburkey]

If the United States was able to fight wars like this we would have been out of Iraq and Afghanistan 5 years ago. Sri Lanka fights the war on terror understanding innocent people will die and proceeded to decimate everything in it's path.

If the United States was not criticized for every innocent person killed in the middle of war and was able to plow through towns and villages, we would not have this 10 year war and problems in Iraq.

[chewbster]

I lived as a minority in my home country and we spoke a different language than the locals. The religion was both christian but even that a bit different. I feel like I must give my insight on this.

DO NOT HATE! people are the same - there's good and bad in both camps. Please don't try to be separatist and don't bomb. Vote your way into the parliament and excel as human beings by being compassionate and empathetic! brotherly love to all of You in Sri Lanka

[chewbster]

I am very happy that You get to live in peace now! I wish there will never be war there again.

I'm also sad to see the civillian casualties. No wonder they didn't allow cameras. Just goes to prove what an ugly dispicable business war is

[arnotkaling]

9-11 made the US terrorist target the LTTE and gave an opportunity to the malayalee racist bastards to trap the LTTE in a 2002 ceasefire

[anteracmacash]

the tigers did not invent a suicide bomb... in fact one of the first of not first suicide bomb assassination attempts was done on Hitler...unfortunately, it failed

[reashot]

@anteracmacash no she said they invent modern suicide tactic & the suicide vest

[anteracmacash]

@reashot they didn't invent the suicide vest either

[raahulworld]

What a biased video? Tigers were the only killers? What about cold blodded murders of innocent civilians by the srilankans? Pathetic media!

[robin961000]

my granphas dad fought in world war 2 in norway he could have died boy am gladhe survived

[Praw48]

I can't beleive there are DOGS out there who still claim that the LTTE were BRAVE and honest fighters of human rights. Fucking riddiculous.

[wylder4]

fuuuuuuuucking ADVERTISEMENTSSSSSS

[SoulDalto]

i am witnessing a Nation disappearing. How sad...Wateva so, however so, Sri Lanka can finally come out of long recession from Tamil negative affect. Original Gangster is dead. Awaiting for a new revolution.

[goliathlup1]

@SoulDalto Sth else will come up, after all peace is boring.

[SoulDalto]

you know what will become extinct next? Nationality.

[Vegetakhan]

Fail, U end terror by killing more then 50k innocent. then wat is left to protect? dunno about ltte or the srilankan government. but if i were the president i would just give the tamils the right they want and coexist peacefully.

[fugernut]

All these wars are started because of religion. I thought they were ment to teach people to accept others and look at all the war we are fighting now.

[jamil316]

Terrorism Wikipedia it............... and u will now u cant Win it..... u can fight it but it will always pop in a Different way

[BrainstormerXV]

Sri Lanka was on the verge of becoming a high income developed country when the Tamil insurgency broke out in the 1970's. before the civil war, it was a tourist paradise. One of the world's most beautiful beaches and scenaries. The people are highly educated. Even with decades of civil war, the country ranked highest in human development index in South Asia, way ahead of India. Thank God the war was over. Sri Lanka now has the chance to live upto its name...."Pearl of the Indian Ocean".

[prashanw]

@BrainstormerXV Exactly right! Now that the war is over, things are picking up but some way to go. LTTE terror diaspora has been spreading non stop lies in the Western world in desperation to divide this tiny nation.

[BrainstormerXV]

The guy is Rohan Gunaratna, my professor here at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He is a Sri Lankan and is one of the world's foremost authority on terrorism. He heads the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at RSIS. His book "Inside Al Qaeda" is a world bestseller. He is a very funny guy. He had a hand in defeating the Tamil Tigers, strategically speaking.

[iWickedsplosion]

i hate when westerners say stupid things like oh the tamil tigers were protecting their people and all that... well y'all should shut up you have no idea what it's like to live in that situation where civilians of all demographics live in constant fear of attack. also, when the tamil tigers solely represent a specific ethnic group, how could you possibly blame the government for getting out of hand sometimes and suspecting all tamils? you all should join reality

[Caminacels]

@iWickedsplosion

you see, when reading your post, i thought you had a point at the beginning (about the "westeners" and all that)... but then you say things like "how could you possibly blame the government for getting out of hand sometimes and suspecting all tamils"... wow... just wow...

[niemanickurwa]

I don't think we should necessarily consider this to be a winning strategy against all terror groups. The IRA were finally defeated in part by themselves (Omah Bombing, they miscalculated in thinking killing 29 people, one of which was pregnant with twins, was going to do anything other than disgust even their own supporters) and political negotiation and inclusion.

If the Sri Lanka government make sure they do what they can for the Tamil's inclusion into society as equals, then they will win.

[prashanw]

@niemanickurwa Tamils were always influential in society. Tamils wanted virtually everything and expected Sinhalese to be 2nd class citizens. Then only Tamils dont cry discrimination!

[mayurankuna]

all we know there is no media freedom in srilanka....

atleast we should welcome foreign journalists (who will not be killed) to do their job.

[mayurankuna]

here wat i tell u..srilanka now free...war over..no guns sounds..no bombss.we should be happy with that.

actually we should know who are terrorists...any groups who kill innocent people ,are terrorists.so both terrorists

as a srilankan citizen i will tell you should not talk about this conflict in srilanka ...if u support anyone ..your life is in danger ..

[Caminacels]

@mayurankuna

doesn't sound like a "free country" to me ;)

[marilourenilda]

fuck google... quit with the ads, it making me not use google

[shakaama]

ok yeah after that warning and at 40 seconds into the video. i stopped this.

need to go watch pokemon and clear my mind of that violent image.

[truelankan1]

well what more! FBI states LTTE terrorists are far worse than AL Qaeda! So LTTE activities are deeply disturbing! but crushing the LTTE was the biggest achievement of all

[shakaama]

oh god you bring me back to this video. damn you truelankan1.

Honestly, as a Libertarian, I don't care. If people want to walk in an blow up their neighbors kids or their neighbors grandmas, I could care less. Obviously they're angry for a reason.

It is not the purview of this country to enter another sovereign nation and tell them what to do. Also the FBI and CIA are the worst possible sources to quote as threats to terrorists. they are THE biggest terrorists on the planet.

[truelankan1]

ok sorry, dont get me wrong.

yes from what you say then let the warring factions resolve the issue without any outside meddling. the western world tried to save the suicide bombers but failed!

[shakaama]

one of these days i'm going to stop autotmatically coming to the video to read the replies to my comments.

truelankan1 you did that on purpose didn't you. Luckily there was an advertisement first :)

Yeah you know we're in those countries not to make nicey nice with them or to bring peace. We're there to get money for our corporations. end of story. we are the bad guys :( sad but true.

[goldenchild3079]

brutal just brutal

[riotstick67]

People like Yupper really make me feel like some cultures deserve to become extinct. Yupper must be the single most ridiculous idiot on youtube. Given that 95 percent of the posters on youtube are idiots, that says a lot.

[prashanw]

yupper is talking bullshit. he supports the LTTE terrorist atrocities on my race the Sinhalese. LTTE terrorists are far worse AL Qaeda but so many Western MPs glorify LTTE terrorists

[poodleinsky]

the true biggest terrorist is U.S israel and u.k.

[truelankan1]

@poodleinsky

TOTALLY RIGHT! USA massacred so many in vietnam, iraq, afghanistan and thats ok no war crimes charges! also over 50,000 massacred in dresden in the hunt for hitler! utter hypocrisy to say the least!

[riotstick67]

You idiot. I don't even know where to begin on your inane comment. I suppose you think we shoud have let Hitler continue his conquest or allow Al Qaeda to operate with impunity? America is always the first to be blamed by weak people from weak nations. Ironically those same weak nations come crying to us for help if they become a target of terrorists, totalitarian regimes etc. America makes mistakes, but it is not an evil nation.

[yupper99]

"I don't even know..." You should have put a period right there, because that's the only accurate thing you typed in that entire comment.

[yupper99]

Sri Lanka is a living laboratory for analyzing how genocide and oppression of an ethnic minority can be condoned and encouraged by the international community. I find it telling that a Vanguard correspondent thinks she can learn about the "civil war" in Sir Lanka by hanging out at a beach, sight seeing in a government escorted cab, and occasionally chatting with government officials and conducting government sanctioned interviews.....wow some investigative journalism skill....

[prashanw]

You fucking LTTE terrorist! You tamils do all sorts of shit & do what all massacres want hurting & causing distress to other ppl. but when someone acts against you LTTE TERRORISTS YOU FUCKERS call it 'genocide, brutalizing, hurting INNOCENT ppl'. The fact is that you criminals are the supporters of world's no1 terrorist group the LTTE. LTTE terrorists blew up busloads of civillians, killed leaders, but when Army attacked them back they call it genocide. FUCKERS! LTTE are far worse than AL QAEDA!

[yupper99]

Heh. I am not Tamil. Not even close. But thank you for proving my point about who the real "terrorists" are.

[prashanw]

Oh yeah the real terrorists are the LTTE! why wont you glorify AL Qaeda?? Funny how much Sri Lanka being a small weak country is accused for all bullshit stories. Learn about the crimes against humanity, terrorism done by LTTE terrorists please!

[prashanw]

Why wont you go and negotiate with Osama Bin Laden and Taliban??? USA is commiting GENOCIDE in Iraq and Afghanistan!!

[riotstick67]

Diplomacy doesn't tend to work with people who see nothing wrong with strapping explosives to their bodies and blowing up women and children. America has made mistakes, but America is not the problem. Why don't Muslims ever direct their outrage toward the members of their own society who use terror as a means to carry out conflict?

[prashanw]

MUSLIMS? dont you know that reagan called taliban (ex mujahideen) during cold war as freedom fighters??? bin laden built all underground bunkers using USA aid given during the cold war! USA's useless foreign policy is to blame. USA never respects the SOVEREIGNITY of other nations. just because a regime does not dance to the USA's tune, they want to oust it and thats what they want do happen in Sri Lanka too!

[riotstick67]

Got a little sidetracked with other comments. The USA doesn't have a crystal ball, and Reagan was singly focused on defeating the Soviets. USA has helped a lot of countries stay alive that wouldn't have otherwise. It's a cliche but the only time people stop bitching about the US is when they need us to save their asses.

[prashanw]

USA must respect the sovereignity and the right of other nations to keep their nations safe from terrorists like what sri lanka did. when we tried to kill LTTE terrorists, USA tried to save them! that must come to an end. USA invades other countries hunting terrorists ok thats fine! so does sri lanka have the right to takeover its territory controlled by terrorists! USA and the west owes sri lanka a lot for pampering these criminal genocidal barbarian LTTE terrorists.

[riotstick67]

I agree with you Prash, and I do not pretend to understand what it would be like to live in a land where terrorism was an everyday occurence. God bless, and I honestly wish from my heart you the best of luck and a prosperous future.

[prashanw]

THANK YOU SIR!!! Thats the sort of words excellent work sir! i want to hear from an american!! i fully understand america doing thorough checks on any muslim arab landing at a US airport for the sake of national security. also, wire tapping done in USA is fine to prevent terrorism. thanks for your good wishes! current tv covered our side of the story which many US tv channels like CNN wont do. i will msg you links on how the few americans sources gave a true picture of sri lanka!

[prashanw]

i know you endorse ALL LTTE ATROCITIES against my community the Sinhalese! LTTE terrorists killing innocent Sinhalese is a GOOD THING FOR YOU! DREAM ON FOR YOUR PEELAM POOLAM FUCKLAM SHITLAM HELLAM EVILAM DEVILAM! We will not give an ounce of our land for YOUR BELOVED LTTE TERRORISTS! KILLING LTTE TERRORISTS IS A GOOD THING! We have great friends now! If you want to revive LTTE terrorists dream on! We can BRUTALLY CRUSH the LTTE terrorists now. AL Qaeda are not as ruthless as LTTE terrorirsts.

[yupper99]

Apologist for Sri Lanka's genocide. I don't care to hear your excuses.

[prashanw]

you dont care?? you fucking LTTE terrorist cant suck the dead blood thirsty fanatical anti civilizational genocidal barbarian Velupillai Prabhakaran's cock any more! Excuses?? HAHAHA you wanna see the genocide of Sinhalese you fucking LTTE terrorist! We know what you fucking LTTE terrorists want! Just trying to be saints! dream on the whole world knows your big fat lies!

[laetrille]

do u have the balls to go there without any protection

[yupper99]

The vast majority of people who travel do not have the "privilege" of "protection." And why would she need protection? The people most at risk of being harmed are the people who actually live there...

[laetrille]

she is a female, she is much more volnurable and just because she has protection does not mean she is safe, soldiers in armored vehicles get killed. Also journalists are very VALUABLE persons they risk their lives going into dangerous places to let us know what is going on in the world. She has earned the right to this type of protection by hard work in university and the willingness to risk her life to bring us the news while we sit on our asses. You lack critical thinking skills dumb dumb.

[yupper99]

What a naive and sheltered life you must have. Are we placing different values on human lives? Is she more "valuable" than the people who live in these warzones and experience it as part of their daily lives? Someone who gets VIP treatment when they visit other communities and build their career by simply documenting the suffering of others is just a parasite. You don't even begin with know what "critical thinking" means....

[laetrille]

LOL!!! A Shelterd life?!?!?! Motherfuicker I am currently in Ciudad Juares, Mexico protecting my family with old fashion American frepower. Do I deserve VIP treatment NO!! I am simply doing my duty.

I want to protect these journalists as much as possible so I can keep learning about these world events without having to actually go there. Recent events have showed the danger journalists are in so we must protect them. As for the people, they are not defensless they can own an assult rifle. Dumb.

[yupper99]

"so I can keep learning about these world events without having to actually go there." Yes, believing what you are told by people you do not know makes you very "critical", not naive at all...LOL

I won't even get into the "old fashion American frepower (sic)" stupidity....that would just take too long to deconstruct and you still wouldn't get it anyway.

[yupper99]

Private mercenaries = parasite of the lowest grade.

[laetrille]

How the fuck am I a private mercinary?!?!? I am a soldier of my family, a protector. I am not being hired by no one I took the decision to go, I have absolutley no incentive. Blackwater is a private mercenary gorup, they kill for pay. Also in order to beleive what you beleive you would have to ignore your own family if they were in danger of being killed. I cant beleive you would let bad men kill your mom and rape your sisters. You are a parasite.

[yupper99]

Heh, you are such a loser. I never said you were a "private mercenary." I merely stated they were parasites. The fact that you got your panties in a bunch over that statement suggests that perhaps you are one. But it's ok, this is the internet so you can pretend to be whatever you want to be (for example, pretend you are capable of "critical thinking" when you don't even have a clue what that term means). Now you copy/paste my insults, must be another one of your "critical thinking" skills

[riotstick67]

Wow you are incredibly stupid. Without people willing to travel to these regions to document conflict, the people living in these war zones would have no hope of ever receiving outside intervention. Public outcry are these people's only hope. You are an absolute fool.

[MVG994]

what needs to happen in sri lanka is simple

the next generation must unite and provide ample opportunity for all to succeed and become productive citizens...and how do we do this?

how about instead of spending money on the war, spend money on education!

[SinhaHelaya]

7:37 'Rambo posters' lol. Rambo can't even hold a candle to our warriors. They are the BEST OF THE BEST, as proven. We are so proud of our heroes who freed us.

18:05 No surprise there. If the diaspora living thousands of miles away worship the LTTE, imagine the effect of LTTE propaganda on Tamils in the north-east! We shall help these people get back on their feet and show them that prosperity is better than any war.

[12NoSurrender21]

@SinhaHelaya Rambo would cut your maggot infested belly open.

[SinhaHelaya]

@12NoSurrender21 I won't deny that since I'm a mere civilian with no military training, but Rambo is a fictitious character, just like ALL your modern-day heroes.

Anyway, how are your 110% INVINCIBLE American armed forces going in Iraq and Afghanistan? I heard you guys are totally winning the wars over there. I bet Rambo must be eating his heart out ;)

[helix4811]

@SinhaHelaya

of course they're the best of the best, they had Russian style training with the help of the Chinese and Pakistanis

[SinhaHelaya]

@helix4811 I'm not sure if the Chinese trained us but they supplied us with plenty of weapons. Over the decades we received training and/or equipment from Israel, India, Ukraine, Russia, Pakistan, former Czechoslovakia, UK and the USA (until Obama became prez). Our toops also receive raining in tactics devised by our own commanders over the last 5 or 6 years, and that's what we're training Pakistan in as well. We won't forget how Pakistan helped us when we badly needed help against terrorism.

[helix4811]

@SinhaHelaya

my dad says your welcome...he was one of the F16 pilots that came to help the Sri Lankan army....he says he almost got shot down :(

[SinhaHelaya]

@helix4811 That's awesome. During what time period was he in Sri Lanka? I'm guessing it's the early-mid 90's? I guess he is in the air force of Pakistan, Ukraine, Russia or Israel? We are very grateful for his help. Thanks to the training our pilots received from people like your dad, they are now among the world's most experienced in ground attack and CAS. Sorry to hear about your dad's close call, but not everyone can say that they were dodging SAM's in the skies over Sri Lanka :)

[helix4811]

@SinhaHelaya

he was in the Pakistani air force....don't know when he was deployed though, he doesn't talk much about his military life....

:/

[SinhaHelaya]

@helix4811 All good, even some Lankan soldiers I know prefer not to talk about their deployments. I was hoping you'd be Pakistani. The Tamil Tigers would have overrun Jaffna in 2000 if you hadn't helped us when no one else did. Naturally we are only too happy to return the favour and train your army against the Taliban. We hope you prevail in your war against terror and also the recent flooding. We have sent some medical teams to the flooded areas to help.

[helix4811]

@SinhaHelaya

man my country is in trouble right now, thanx for your support....

[SinhaHelaya]

@helix4811 Don't worry, it will improve. Trust me.

[helix4811]

@SinhaHelaya

:)

[helix4811]

@SinhaHelaya

though the Pakistanis are receiving traing from Sri Lanka in Mountain Warfare

[flyguyinmotion]

@SinhaHelaya It is good to be proud of your country and the warriors that defend it. Of course Rambo is a rediculous example to use. I'm sure Stallone would crap himself in a real warzone.

[PhotoRelax]

@SinhaHelaya you also can stop showing propaganda...........

[SinhaHelaya]

@PhotoRelax Yeah, tell that to Channel 4.

[SinhaHelaya]

6:34 The statue of Lord Buddha behind the poster of soldiers is NOT actually a paradox. Sinhala Buddhists like to think of Sri Lanka as the cradle of Buddhism, and it has come under attack over the centuries from Europeans, missionaries and most recently the LTTE.

We are not 'Buddhist jihadis' but we consider it our SACRED DUTY to defend our land from any force. It is only natural. Yes, killing is bad karma and Lord Buddha was against war, but sometimes we have no choice.

[elektor1984]

ah comon! They killed people 25 years. NOW there stoped and you expect that they have the rigth to live like nothing happend?

If this is a stronghold , than most of them are guilty. I mean after 25 years!

Its a crying shame that the poor tigers a losing the war are now crying that we put our soft gloves on! I say now les kill them all cause they started this 25 fucking years ego and will go on until there all dead!

dont weaken on terrorist! Or stop complaining that you are afraid of them!

[Kralj0000Kotromanic]

Every conflict, despite who the winner or looser is, has a starting point. you have to ask yourselve why they started teh conflict 25 years ago? I understand that if you are from one or the other side, you will defend your opinions, but human suffarage doesnt ask who you are and where you from. Always place yourselve in the opposite sides shoes, and look where everything originaly started. As long as there is one Tamil breathing, Sri Lanka will not have peace until they give everybody rights...

[UltimateSoul1]

It now sees the world,very interesting to target the tigers first before stopping others

[FriedNugget]

wow man. Mind opening....

[yamanoj]

you can love tamil tigers if you want. who cares. terrorism is not our problem anymore.

[Silwathpora26]

Most of westerners do not know what the bloody painful situation we had in sri lanka on LTTE terror.The west does not know how happy we sri lankan now in the country,no matter Sinhalese,Tamil or Muslim.Dear west please do not disturb our peace in the country after the war.

[ThreeBeeps]

Fk u we can do w/e we want!!!!! America/Britain power BETCH

[SinhaHelaya]

You could try defeating Al Qaeda and the Taliban with your 'power' instead of bribing them to stop attacking your soldiers.

[awgu]

@Silwathpora26 I am a westerner, and frankly, I supported the LTTE against racist Sinhalese who were treating them like garbage. Too bad they lost.

[prashanw]

@awgu yeah keep crying for fucking LTTE terrorists who are far worse than AL Qaeda! This was a war between a legitimate democratically elected government of a sovereign nation and the world's deadliest terror group LTTE! We never invaded other countries hunting terrorists unlike Americans who massacred millions in panama, vietnam, iraq, afghanistan etc. Yeah LTTE are angels for you! LTTE has massacred thousands of innocent Sinhalese! LTTE are the cold blooded anti civilizational megalomaniacs!

[vr4evo]

@Silwathpora26

shut up, dont fuck with us and you won't be bothered... it's very simple... SO STAY AWAY FROM US OR YOU WILL PAY..

[dymd3z]

@Silwathpora26 You have nothing to worry about, 95% of us "Westerners", as you call us, have no idea Sri Lanka exists.

[samloso]

The last part with the quotes from the letter written by the late editor of the Sunday Leader were jaw dropping.

[hel1k3rn]

everyone[including him obviously]knew it was coming,he did many exposés on ministers and the government in general that it was only a matter of time before what happened happened.shame that it was spin doctored into what it is now,but then again who gives a shit about a 3rd world journalist who ended up dead for exposing government corruption.

anyways this has to be one of the best documentaries I've seen on this issue,normally what you get from western media is utterly biased crap.

[hel1k3rn]

plus she's kinda hot :P

[piratapan]

Oh god yes. :)

[SinhaHelaya]

Damn straight :-D

[doop1232]

wow, interesting.

[darkal13]

WTF did I see what I think I saw a someone blow their self up.... speechless : X

[SinhaHelaya]

That was just a tiny bra-bomb (yes, it was in her bra) that killed the poor guy who got it in the face. Their regular bombs were much more powerful, as can be seen in that footage of newspaper pics.

[hel1k3rn]

tiny being the key word lol

[SinhaHelaya]

^_^