Going by a recent report on a ‘behind the news’ segment on TV, PresidentSirisena has told the UPFA leaders that he is under tremendous pressure from the West and India. What Prime Minister Modi wants cannot be done but nor can we refrain from doing so, he is supposed to have said. He explained his advocacy of a national government which included the UNP by saying that it was an unavoidable answer to western pressure because Ranil Wickremesinghe and the UNP were the only ones who could talk to the West, interface with it and keep it at bay.

If this story has veracity—and it has yet to be denied—this Presidential disclosure tells us many things.

The comments presented below are in response to an edited and abbreviated version of a legal opinion by Sir Desmond de Silva on “Permissible parameters of collateral damage” carried by The Island of April 10, 2015. The article states: “Currently whether or not an attack that results in civilian deaths is legal under international humanitarian law depends on whether the attack meets the requirements of three principles: (1) Distinction; (2) Military Necessity and (3) Proportionality. A violation of international humanitarian law only occurs if there is an intentional attack directed against civilians, or if an attack is launched on a military objective with knowledge that the incidental civilian injuries would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage”.