Many Paths in Sri Lanka's Victory Push

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka is on the verge of victory against a separatist movement that has terrorized the country for nearly three decades. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are almost a spent force and the government of Mahinda Rajapaksa is determined to finish the rebels off once and for all.

The international community is also pressurizing the government to declare a ceasefire it says will save tens of thousands of civilians trapped by the conflict in a 10-square kilometer enclave on the nation's northeast coast. But even if the war ends in a ceasefire, the government can rightly say that it has crushed the LTTE.