M.D. Nalapat
MANIPAL, India, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Foreign
troops arrive as liberators, receiving a rapturous welcome from the local population. Soon
after, small forces of armed men begin to emerge occasionally from the shadows,
shooting at the occupiers -- who must respond indiscriminantly if at all
because they cannot distinguish between friend and foe.
Civilian casualties mount. The welcome
evolves into suspicion. The resistance grows bolder, thanks in no small part to
increased support from within the population. The minor attacks multiply until
the occupation force is goaded into carrying out major military operations that
cause countless civilian casualties.
Post-war Iraq? No. It is Sri Lanka, circa
August 1987, the year an Indian military force landed on the island to enforce
a peace between Sinhalese and Tamils.
Within weeks irregulars from the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched an offensive against the IPKF, using
civilian areas as cover. Liberation movement guerillas would pop up from within
a crowd, spray a passing IPKF convoy with bullets and disappear -- while the
soldiers fire back on a crowd of non-combatants.
After more than a year of this, the
Indians changed their tactics.
They began to emphasize medical and other
services to win the hearts of the civilian population, and they used used radio
and print to disseminate information about the ruthlessness of the LTTE towards
any individual who opposed it.
