Implications of the air raids

Although the damage to the planes and the buildings at the Sri Lankan air force base in Katunayake may be insignificant, the damage to the moral of the Sri Lankan forces is colossal. To think the the LTTE is able to fly a single engine propeller air crafts to the heart of the western province and drop three large bombs is it self perplexing. The fact that the two modified air craft with top speed of about 300kph were able to return to "base" in the tiger held territory is even more outrageous. The LTTE planes (or plane as the defense ministry is now saying) would have had to be in-flight for at least another hour after the incident and one can't help wonder why air force did not respond in any manner. Even if the type of air crafts operated by the air force doesn't have the air-to-air capability to shoot down the planes, the air force should have at very least flown a reconnaissance mission to identify the location of the "base". The incident - even though is yet another exercise of Prabhakaran's showmanship - is no doubt a huge moral boost for the LTTE and its supporters and the only way to neutralize the effects of the LTTE antic is to flash images of the burning wreckages of the LTTE "attack air crafts" across the pages of the world newspapers.