With their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns...

Not this time, but it could easily have been (Reposted due to disappearing posts:)) It was bound to happen sooner or later. I said bye to my mum around 11:30pm. She was heading to the airport to fly off to Hong Kong. She must've got to the airport around 12:15am. I must've fallen asleep around that time. At 12:51am my phone rang and my mum, almost in tears, was saying that the airport was under attack and that she could hear bombs and gunfire and that the passengers were being evacuated. I panicked. All sorts of things ran through my head. There was no immediate information on the internet or the tv! We couldn't even get through to her 5 minutes later cause all the lines were jammed. We couldn't go there cause the roads were closed. At around 3:30am, having resigned my self to the fact that i can't do much from here, i tossed and turned and fell asleep. Was mighty glad to wake up around 6 to the news that it was only the airforce camp and not the civilian airport. Mum came home at 6:40am. Passengers had been taken to the Galadari in Colombo. This was to be expected. Our forces are pounding LTTE targets in the North and East. The civillians in those areas are constantly fleeing heavy fighting at the risk of their lives and their livelihoods. Our beloved president announces that he will use military force to drive out the LTTE and that it would take 2-3 years, obviously paying no regard whatsoever to the Ceasefire agreement. Fair enough, it has become a useless piece of paper. But then if you are going to make such strong statements publicly, can you not put your foot down and declare that the ceasefire doesn't exist? We're very lucky that the LTTE hasn't carried out an attack on the civilians of the south as of yet in retaliation to the recent pounding in the north. I believe that in the eyes of the international community the LTTE scored plenty of points last night by attacking a military target, which is allowed under the laws of war in retaliation to attacks on it's own military positions. Not that the laws of war have been respected at all in the Sri Lankan conflict. But i'm so relieved that the civilians at the airport, including my mum, were spared by the LTTE who could've very easily created much more chaos. I can't believe our government is still under the impression that this war can be won militarily. Both sides have tried and failed. Which in itself obviously is a clear indication to us as to the sheer deadlock in warring ability. But our leaders and theirs are oblivious to this fact. The international community too is calling for an end to hostilities. Over 20 years, over 68,000 lives (and that's only official records), and so many gajillions of rupees that could've been spent on making this island a true paradise have been lost on this useless war. I think it's time to bite the bullet. Everyone wants peace. Then why is this so hard to achieve?