Where the LTTE went wrong

It's Monday. It's Morning. It's Monday Morning Quarterback time.

The news is all over that the LTTE has been defeated. Prabhakaran is probably dead. (Though the LKGOV's statements are best taken with a grain or ten of salt - remember the 60,000 civillians who suddenlt became 200,000?) But the LTTE are pretty much done.

It was almost funny to see them make a statement that We have decided to silence our guns.

Almost.

Now I guess its time to look back and see where the went wrong. After all, hindsight is 20/20.

• Killing Rajiv Gandhi

  Yes, there isn't any proof. But it seems obvious that the LTTE did kill Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 (it feels a lot longer). Biting the hand that feeds you is not a recommended tactic. And that alone cost the LTTE a lot.

• Not quitting while they were ahead

  1999 to 2004 was the best time for the LTTE. They had a de facto country, and they were in a very strong bargaining position. If Prabhakaran had played it right he could have got a place in parliament. Sure they can bring down weapons. Sure they can ready for war. As someone once said, There is no peace. There is only 'Open fire!' and 'I need to reload!'

  Both sides were reloading as fast as possible. LKGOV not so fast because they were running out of cash, but the LTTE were going great guns (pun only partially intended).

  But by refusing to talk and try to fix the problem instead of keeping on fighting, the LTTE lost what was a golden opportunity.

• Killing Lakshman Kadirgamar

  Lakshman Kadirgamar would probably have been the greatest ally the LTTE had. A senior player in the political field, a Tamil from Jaffna, a Christian (like Prabhakaran), and an internationally recognised figure. It is possible to see a pragmatist like him helping to bring the LTTE into the mainstream and political process if they had ever shown some willingness to do so. Despite all that, they killed him. This was guaranteed to ensure that they were not taken seriously in the political level, as well as that they would lose support of the moderate Tamils.

• Helping The Beast win

  This is possibly the biggest mistake that the LTTE made. They took money from The Beast to make sure that the Jaffna populace didn't vote and that The Beast won.

  Maybe they felt that they could win. Maybe they figured that this would be another war like the other wars. No matter what they felt, they sold themselves for a few million rupees. One hopes that it was worth it.

Looking back you can always go what the fuck was I thinking!!!??

And most of the time we don't know. As the old saying goes "it seemed like a good idea at the time."