Bloomberg Blues

by Prof. Aaron Rajah, San Diego, California

Unethical journalistic quests took another nosedive this week. This time Bloomberg News dove all the way to rock bottom. The article in question is titled, “ Sri Lanka Army Offensives Erode Rebel Potency Gunaratna Says.” In the article, Bangalore-based pay-per-view writer Jay Shankar takes the readers on a wild goose chase about the LTTE’s attack capability and then spins out of control about the so called “military victories” of the Sri Lankan Army. The mouthpiece of the failed state of Sri Lanka, Bloomberg plays a numbers game with the rebel outfit, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The spin continued unabated,

“Sri Lanka's military operations against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are blunting the group's offensive capabilities” terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna said.”

"This does not mean it is a weak organization,'' Gunaratna, of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, said in a telephone interview. As a terrorist group, the LTTE is still able to inflict ``very significant damage.'' As a guerrilla force its capabilities have been eroded. ”

New York City Mayor Bloomberg and friend

Spin master Rohan Gunarntna’s deceptive lies have been long dissected by Japan-based Tamil icon Dr. Sachi Srikantha (e.g. On Rohan Gunaratna: the ‘Temple Drum’ of the Terrorism Industry).

This time we find Gunarntna takes readers east and west at the same time. Gunarntna claims, “As a terrorist group, the LTTE is still able to inflict very significant damage.'' “As a guerrilla force its capabilities have been eroded. ” His spin between the LTTE as a terrorist group and as a guerilla group is quite laughable.  If the LTTE were to choose one of his distinctions, they would be eager to be classified as a terrorist group, indeed! While claiming the LTTE has the capacity to inflict “very significant damage,” the title of the Bloomberg article contradicts this conclusion by speaking of, “Erod(ing) Rebel Potency.”Which one of these characterizations are true? Indeed, they are all lies, because they are imagineered by a paid journalist with no independent opinions.

The Bloomberg comedy continues:“Sri Lanka's military is mounting almost daily attacks against the estimated 7,000 Tamil Tiger fighters maintaining bases in the north...”

While the Sri Lankan Army commander estimates the LTTE to be 4,000 strong, how does this number increase, even after killing almost 1879 LTTE men from the beginning of this year according to the Ministry of Defense?  Shankar readily omits such documented facts provided by the Sri Lankan government.

Furthermore the article claims,

“The army and air force have targeted the LTTE leadership since capturing the Eastern Province. Velupillai Prabhakaran, the group's leader, was wounded in an air raid Nov. 26, according to the government, and the head of the political wing was killed on Nov. 2. The LTTE military intelligence chief was killed Jan. 6. ”

Sri Lankan President Rajapakse recently claimed that he wants the LTTE chief alive to be sent to India for trial. How could we have a dead person caught alive? The Bloomberg stringer easily forgives such government propaganda, but selectively adds government media reports that do not make any sense at all. For example, LTTE military intelligence Chief Mr. Pottu Amman was never killed according to the Sri Lankan government, yet Bloomberg claims, “the LTTE military intelligence chief was killed in Jan. 6.”

This fabricated story continues, quoting Jehan Perera, director of the National Peace Council, - he too gets to be a defense analyst of the Sri Lankan civil war. This is the first time in world history that a so-called peace activist moonlights as a defense expert. It seems that anyone who will talk to our media man becomes a defense expert instantly!

Jay Shankar continues,

“There are at least 50,000 LTTE fighters in the country's north, most of them forcibly recruited”, Perera said.

"All of these may not be frontline soldiers. The hardcore LTTE may number about 10,000.'' The government, rather than taking territory, wants to kill the rebels, he said. "That explains why the government is not progressing into LTTE- controlled territory.”

If the above story is true, the LTTE is the only organization in the history of war that has forcibly recruited massive number of civilians while on the run from a formidable government onslaught. It’s funny how Perera spins this, ``That explains why the government is not progressing into LTTE- controlled territory.” If the LTTE is inside LTTE-controlled territory, the only way you could kill them all is to get them where they are. Spinning both ways, Bloomberg writers readily buy the bull without adding any rational comments to the obvious.

All in all, Bloomberg is hosting the latest cheap journalists who cannot think for themselves. We have found in our nine-month investigation of Bloomberg that the so-called news agency is corrupt and does not ask the obvious.  Their report on the civil war in Sri Lanka is an insult to the intelligence of rational folks, worldwide.