The Rajapaksa regime prevailed because it allowed no witnesses to its ruthless actions. The Sri Lankan counterinsurgency strategy, as it became known, was studied in war colleges and defense ministries across the world. Its tenets were clear: To bring a swift end to an insurgency, the military must be allowed to do whatever it wants, with no regard for civilian life or international law, in utter secrecy, and in defiance of international opinion. The victorious government can then impose a political solution. This doctrine was not dissimilar to the Russian strategy in Chechnya. If Western
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