Comments on: Mahinda - Better than G.W Bush ?

By: groundviews » Sri Lankan Defence Ministry suddenly wakes up to its own propaganda

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:51:30 +0000

[...] A Ministry of Defense that isn’t even aware of its own propaganda and initiatives, Police who have no clue about anything and a President who does not make any sense are together leading the charge of a war against terrorism in Sri Lanka. [...]

By: Charith

Charith — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:53:42 +0000

For a government this media savvy, don’t you think it would have raised hell if this was just a case of a bad translation?! Did you see the interview? It’s not bad translation or a question of language. It’s quite simply pathetic communication.

By: Deane

Deane — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:47:25 +0000

To be fair, i think his excellency answered the questions in Sinhala, this seems to be a rather lousy translation.

By: punitham

punitham — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:45:44 +0000

president, foreign minister(singapore interview), american ambassador… are all confused after confusing all the others. let them have a break and let some sensible people halt the hurtling of the country into an abyss. when the world is trying to come to grips with the changes in the environment sri lankan ‘leaders’ have done enough damage to man and matter - let’s halt it.

By: rajeev sreetharan

rajeev sreetharan — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 04:27:44 +0000

It would seem, he may have been better off, not giving the interview, though i think it less important to ascertain the details of what he said, as the actions on the ground in Lanka speak for themselves for the moment.

Since, everyone is confused by the interview, maybe to make the best of it, a better question would be, why give the interview? why now?

With the international image of Sri Lanka regarding human rights, impunity, and the like, with the LTTE already banned everywhere, with Australia queued up, and with enough space to prosecute the military solution for the moment, what was the point ?

The overall tone, was by process of elimination, somewhat pro-LTTE, pro-Tamil, by the nature of the somewhat hard hitting questions, and lack of clear lucid well articulated answers.

It just seems, the government’s international image is already ailing, and strategically, there is nothing to gain by risking giving in the international sphere, anything less than a good interview, with strong points, clearly articulated concepts, etc.

I am as confused with the interview, as i am with the strategy, or lack there of, behind it.

By: SH

SH — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 13:08:33 +0000

This is better than a monty python sketch

By: groundviews

groundviews — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 10:48:22 +0000

Dear Sam,

Of the many comments that have come in in response to your question, I’ve not been able to publish any. I kindly request all those who comment in response to this article, or in general on Groundviews, to adhere to the guidelines posted here - http://www.groundviews.org/submission-guidelines

That said, the general line of argument amongst those who have responded seems to be that no one has a clue as to what the President is talking about. Some even go as far to ague that the President himself does not know what he is talking about either.

So I guess you are not the only one confused.

Best,

Sanjana