A general view of the abandoned conflict zone where Tamil Tigers separatists made their last stand before their defeat by the Sri Lankan army is seen in northeastern Sri Lanka on May 23, 2009. Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers on Sunday admitted for the first time that their leader was killed by government forces a week ago as the UN demanded better access for civilians displaced in recent fighting. (AFP/File/Joe Klamar)Horror For Civilians Trapped In Sri Lanka's 'No-Fire Zone' -- Times Online
From the air, the battle zone reveals itself one clue at a time — the scorched patches of earth, the blasted palm trees, the burnt-out skeletal houses.
Then the helicopter banks sharp right over the green lagoon and a blaze of white sand appears — to the gasps of the first outsiders to glimpse the beach where the Tamil Tigers made their last stand.
Sri Lanka’s no-fire zone is a scene of such utter devastation it mocks its very name. It is a glimpse of hell unleashed in paradise. A glistening white beach packed with home-made bunkers where civilians huddled to protect themselves from the shells that the government denies launching in the final weeks of the offensive. The craters in the white sand; the charcoal coloured scorch marks and bombed-out dwellings; the abandoned bus, its forlorn white flag still flying, and the human detritus tell a very different story.
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Update: U.N. Chief Calls Sri Lanka War Zone 'Very Sobering' -- Washington Post
Update: Tigers begged me to broker surrender -- Times Online
My Comment: There will be an accounting of this war .... especially what happened in the last few weeks. But that accounting will not happen now.