Only God knows the full story of what really happened, but it sure does look like many thousands of innocent civilians were slaughtered in the ruthless government assault to crush the Tamil rebels once and for all.  If so, this horrifying massacre makes something like the infamous Wounded Knee massacre of helpless Sioux Indians in my home state of South Dakota in 1890 look so small it’s almost insignificant in comparison.  But the way the US military mercilessly slaughtered a few hundred Lakota tribal people hasn’t been forgotten by the Sioux, and the memory of that massacre still poisons relations more than a century later between that once proud Native American people and the nation that conquered them.  I suspect the same will be true in this tragic case.

20,000 civilian refugees killed in just three weeks?  Who can comprehend such a thing?  A thousand innocent lives lost a day?  Who can really absorb and imagine such a calamity?

Perhaps this kind of atrocity can shock some of us complacent Americans out of our stupor and indifference to the fate of the poor and powerless in the rest of the world.  But if the past is any indication, it won’t make much impact and will quickly be forgotten here in this privileged country.

Alas, terrorism breeds terrorism, and hatred breeds hatred, and violence breeds yet more violence.  The inexcusable terrorism practiced by the Tamil Tigers over two decades has borne a bitter fruit indeed. And the end result was vengeful governmental terrorism on a massive scale.

Lord, have mercy.

David Handy+

Thank you, Kendall, for posting this.  Not that it makes the massacre any worse, but my understanding is that Christianity had taken hold among the Tamil community.  We can only hope the survivors will not be bent on revenge, as has taken place over the years in Rwanda.
Lord, have mercy.