Who dies in this 'War on Terror'?

More people who are innocent than involve themselves in terrorist acts, that has become all too clear since George W Bush uttered that glib phrase. It has become since, not the slogan of a moral opposition against acts of terror against individuals, but one to exculpate acts by governments against peoples. The Israeli government was I think the first to seize on the new 'declaration of war' and apply it to any Palestinian resistance, and by extension, quickly to all Palestinians.

Recently, a very brave and honourable Sri Lankan journalist was murdered, an event, because he had fought valiantly against this 'War on Terror' that victimises, not the terrorist, but the population, he expected.

His last testimony upon his own death is here, and, because it raises all the questions that should be asked about the ramifications and consequences of this 'War on Terror' we are all so pressured to, if not blindly support, with one eye closed and one only half-open, accept, should be read by everyone.

I am a journalist myself; though not of the kind who might expect to be called to risk my life in a war zone, be imprisoned, assaulted, or assassinated for what I normally write. I hope, however, if it came down to it, I would also be able to show at least a portion of this man's bravery. And we should all be grateful for people like him.

Here is an edited version of so much in his last article that is relevant to all of us:

No other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few years, the independent media have increasingly come under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed. It has been my honour to belong to all those categories and now especially the last.

. . .we have consistently espoused the view that while separatist terrorism must be eradicated, it is more important to address the root causes of terrorism, and urged government to view Sri Lanka's ethnic strife in the context of history and not through the telescope of terrorism. We have also agitated against state terrorism in the so-called war against terror, and made no secret of our horror that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world routinely to bomb its own citizens. For these views we have been labelled traitors, and if this be treachery, we wear that label proudly.

. . .The LTTE are among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations ever to have infested the planet. There is no gainsaying that it must be eradicated. But to do so by violating the rights of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting them mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames. . .

. . .a military occupation of the country's north and east will require the Tamil people of those regions to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of all self respect. Do not imagine that you can placate them by showering "development" and "reconstruction" on them in the post-war era.
The wounds of war will scar them forever, and you will also have an even more bitter and hateful Diaspora to contend with. A problem amenable to a political solution will thus become a festering wound that will yield strife for all eternity. If I seem angry and frustrated, it is only because most of my countrymen - and all of the government - cannot see this writing so plainly on the wall.

. . .As for me, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I walked tall and bowed to no man. And I have not travelled this journey alone. Fellow journalists in other branches of the media walked with me: most of them are now dead, imprisoned without trial or exiled in far-off lands. Others walk in the shadow of death.

. . .I hope my assassination will be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration for those who survive to step up their efforts. Indeed, I hope that it will help galvanise forces that will usher in a new era of human liberty. . .But if we do not speak out now, there will be no one left to speak for those who cannot, whether they be ethnic minorities, the disadvantaged or the persecuted.

[My emphasis.]

In memoriam Lasantha Wickrematunge and very many others.