Rajiva Wijesinha

“ The Tigers have the personnel, and the willingness to act, so those who want to lend, and even to give, will naturally be attracted to them. There are even those, sick to death of the way corruption and waste vitiates Sri Lankan borrowing, who would much prefer a judicial system that dealt summarily with officials who stole.
And Ranil himself, who sounds so mournful when talking about his ministers he thinks can deliver nothing, may well have a sneaking admiration for the absolute administrative and judicial power Prabhakaran will constitutionally enjoy. ”

“ But Ranil, who unfortunately cut his political teeth under JR, who also thought he needed unbridled power to achieve his goals, whatever they might have been, may well dream of a time when he can exercise powers like Prabhakaran’s. If Tamil Eelam starts developing rapidly under authoritarianism, a Messianic leader on this side of the border might also seem desirable. That it won’t be Ranil may be obvious to everyone else, but the Strong Man ideal of himself is not something he can give up easily. ”

“ They were prepared to make use of Saddam Hussein in the past, and they may well believe that they can make use of Prabhakaran when they want to. The sadder truth, that authoritarian regimes are ipso facto dangerous, has passed Americans by. So we have now a steady stream of foreigners, making the ritual pilgrimage to Kilinochchi with their gifts of gold.
In one sense they cannot be blamed. When Rs 70 million of aid was pledged, and some of the donors made it clear that this had to go through the government, Ranil went around bleating that he could not use much of it since he had no personnel. ”