We Don't Take Sides

One man’s freedom fighter may be another man's terrorist. Whatever conflict is being covered, the Hot Zone will not support one side or another.

My recent coverage of Sri Lanka, and particularly an interview with a cadre of Tamil Tiger rebels, led many readers to ask why I support the Tigers.

The short answer is, I don't.

Whatever conflict is being covered, the Hot Zone will not support one side or another.

Though I frequently interview and report on irregular forces such as insurgent groups, paramilitaries and rebel fighters, I don't endorse them nor imply support for their causes.

Kevin Sites interviews Tamil Tiger
rebels

The mission of the Hot Zone project is to seek and report the truth while putting a human face on global conflict. I'm not trying to get readers to support one side or the other, but I do hope to show readers what life is like for the people living — and fighting — in areas of conflict.

The goal of the Hot Zone is understanding. That means talking to all the parties involved in the conflict. Whether I agree with them is irrelevant.
The rapidly expanding conflict in Sri Lanka is a strong example of why this is so important.

Having just reported from the region and spending a significant amount of time both with the majority Sinhalese people (including my fixer and driver) and the minority Tamil people — it is understandable, yet profoundly disturbing, to see how violent events are interpreted by both sides before they are fully investigated and used to indict and then demonize the other side as villains too terrible to even attempt a peaceful coexistence.

For instance, the Tamil Tigers were quick to jump on the murders of a family of four in the Manar region and used them to fan the flames of the conflict — before even a rudimentary investigation could be conducted. The Tigers issued a press release stating that the family was killed with the man's carpentry tools, the wife raped and the children hung by the rafters of the their home, and stated unequivocally that it was the work of government security forces. The Tigers' official web site, TamilNet, and local Tamil newspapers in the Tiger stronghold of Kilinochchi carried the horrific photos shortly after the incident was revealed. The pictures created widespread outrage in a community already tense about recent violence.

Likewise, the Sri Lankan government immediately pronounced Wednesday's civilian bus attack, which killed 64 people, many of them children, the work of the Tamil Tigers — an accusation the Tigers deny. But this event has already led to a government bombing campaign in Tiger-controlled territory, potentially ratcheting up the conflict to the tipping point, where all-out war seems inevitable.

In the face of incidents like this, both sides need to exercise extreme caution and responsibility. They need, (as do we all) to take a breath, step back and investigate these incidents, instead of seizing on them as propaganda tools to mobilize their people back into deadly embrace of full conflict.

Trying to maintain reason within the fever pitch of violence is difficult but essential work. It takes open and uncompromised information so the right decisions can be made in situations where it literally can mean life or death, peace or war.

When the stakes are this high, none of us can afford to take sides.

PREVIOUSLY:

Jailed Chinese Writers (June 7, 2006) 

Deadly Attack on CBS News Crew in Iraq (May 30, 2006)

Answers From the Hot Zone: Mission Update (May 19, 2006)

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