to His Excellency the President of USA Mr.Barack Obama,

Your Excellency ,

You have probably been informed of the terrorism which had put into peril our country and the lives of our people for the last three decades. They are a ruthless, cunning group of terrorists who had through several cease fires, organised themselves intelligently strengthening their forces, enhancing their economic wealth, organising a strong propaganda front out of the Tamil diaspora, and has a political wing.

The terrorists of Sri Lanka played very well the roles of Dr.Jakyl and Mr.Hyde. They developed through a long standing friend the Norwegian Eric Solheim, a very close relation ships with foreign diplomats, foreign government representatives, American Senators, Western media, NGOs and INGOs, entertaining them in their luxury bungalows in the areas controlled by them.

They thus became friendly “rebels” to these foreigners, while they massacred without mercy the villagers, blasted claymore bombs targeting buses carrying civilians, used suicide bombs, assassinated a President, several Ministers , the Prime Minster of India, attempted to assassinate another President, the Army Commander, Defence Secretary, murdered Police Officers, Soldiers , and liberal intellectuals the list is long..

Finally having failed in all attempts to negotiate a peace settlement, the present government of Sri Lanka which could not stop the continued atrocities of the terrorists demanding a separate territory to set up their own Tamil Homeland, resorted to the only available military solution.

From then onward the American administration despite having learnt a bitter lesson at the hands of al Quaida terrorists, looked at terrorism in Sri Lanka differently and issued repeated statements to the government , “ we call on both sides to stop fighting and come to a negotiated settlement.” This was despite the fact that the American State Department knew that the terrorists were averse to a negotiated settlement.

The Government Forces however continued their military operations and recaptured the territories under terrorist control and weakened them militarily and pushed them to a small corner in the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.

But still the International Community and your State Department instructed by your Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O’Blake who also had been a regular visitor to the terrorists in the north and was entertained by them during the good old days, continued to issue the same old statement to the Government of Sri Lanka to give up the military solution and come to a negotiated settlement.

Today, terrorism is almost over in Sri Lanka except for the few leaders remaining holed up in a 17 sq.km coastal land, refusing to surrender and keeping a few thousand civilians as a human shield. They are awaiting for some one to give them a life line. There is no one with whom the government could negotiate for peace. They are not surrendering because of the hope of some one calling for a ceasefire, and save them.

If UK,Canada, the American State Department refrains from issuing statements and stop interfering with the Government of Sri Lanka and its Armed Forces, the terrorists will understand that there is no one coming to save them. Therefore, the terrorists having no other alternative may surrender.

The Government Forces are in the final phase of elimination of terrorism for good from the soil of Sri Lanka. But the terrorists cunning as they are, and depending on their propaganda wing the Tamil Diaspora, and the foreign friends in high places they had wined and dined with during their more “prosperous” days, are keeping tens of thousands of Tamil Civilians as a human shied deterring the army from wiping them out completely, hoping for the arrival of a “ savior ”.

But our Armed Forces , well disciplined and principled have not and would not, cause intentional death and injury to the civilians kept by the terrorists as a human shield. They have stopped using heavy artillery not to put the civilians in danger. They have opened special protected passages to evacuate the Civilians, and is carrying out a successful rescue operation to bring the civilians to safety. But the terrorists who fear their death and elimination without the human shield provided by the Tamil civilians shoot at any civilians fleeing from them to deter others from doing so.

Under these circumstances it was surprising to see that your Administration which has not changed its methods followed under the previous administration makes it out that you have issued a statement, that "The United States is deeply concerned about the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers, and the mounting death toll. We call on both sides to stop fighting immediately and allow civilians to safely leave the combat zone,"
We in Sri Lanka expected from you a different approach to terrorism from what it had been under the Bush Administration. But it appears nothing has “changed” as you had envisioned. The American State Department is still run by the former bureaucrats used to the Republican methods. Your Ambassador in Sri Lanka Robert O’Blake is also one from that administration and the State Department continues to issue statements under your name taking instructions from this nonchalant Diplomat of the Bush Administration, who has shown no willingness to change.
Therefore, for us in Sri Lanka, who expected so much from you and a “ real change” after your policy statement on terrorism and the warning you issued to the terrorists, it is a great disappointment to see that your Administration follows the same old Bush policies with regard to terrorism in Sri Lanka.
You had stated that you respect the Sovereignty of States, and will not agree to recognising break away territories seeking Independence as in the case of break away provinces from Georgia recognised as independent states by Russia.
But those words, and those visions are yours, but your State Department and even the Secretary of State Ms. Hillary Clinton have different intentions, different views and different visions from those of yours. Terrorism is the same whether the terrorists are Talibans, Al Quaida or Sri Lanka LTTE.
But Hillary Clinton had once said that one cannot lump all terrorists together. I hope that it is not your view. If you differentiate one from another to treat one group of terrorists in a different way from another group of terrorists then you are not consistent and your avowed fight against terrorism are mere shallow words.
The Sri Lanka Armed Forces are on the verge of terminating their military operations against the terrorists. And we request you to intervene and allow the Sri Lanka Government and its Armed Forces to finalise what it had started without obstructions being laid by your State Department, in coordination with other Western countries.
There are some member states of the International Community calling for a cease fire on the pretention of saving the Tamil Civilians when infact they are attempting to find a way out for the terrorist leaders from being captured or killed by the Sri Lanka Government Forces.
The move is led by the UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband , UK is interested in saving the terrorist leaders as it has been demanded by the Tamil diaspora which is an important vote base for the labour Parliamentarians, as it is for the Canadian Parliamentarians, and those of Netherlands.
The UN and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner, USA Ambassador Robert Blake and the American Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher are in liaison with these Parliamentarians of UK and Canada to give a life line to the terrorist leadership.
We therefore request you to please take an independent decision on the matter without being influenced by the State Department, and if it is possible after consultations with the President Mahinda Rajapakse of Sri Lanka and prevail upon your State Department not to interfere with the present situation in Sri Lanka.
Yours Respectfully,
Charles.S.Perera