Taming the Tigers (The end is near?)

It seems that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are getting fairly desperate now. This is mainly due to their being shoved into a corner by the government forces. However, during the continuation (and perhaps final hour) of the ethnic-based civil war in Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers (apparently) shifted targets from Sri Lankan military to civilian safe zones.

Now. This incident can go two ways: 1) The Tigers realize they are beginning to lose grip on the island (they only hold roughly 200KM now) and are getting sloppy, and perhaps ruthless. Coming from the pioneers of suicide bombing, I wouldn't be terribly surprised. 2) The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) is trying to ebb the Tiger's popularity among the people in the NE of the island. The latter view is upheld by tamilnet.com, a pro-Tiger site providing constant updates on the conflict. Of course the government denied the shelling, blaming it on the dissidents. Either way, the humanitarian issues are growing. Food and other supplies are unable to reach sections in the north of the island (reportedly due to the Tigers).

At this time, I'm not prepared to make a call as to which side is violating international laws of war (and general decency). The Tigers are receiving much opposition from the SLA and losing ground (and sea) quickly. But Sri Lanka has been battling the Tigers back since the '70s. We shall have to wait and see. Until then, Third World Democracy! (Check out her tiger kicks...)