New developments in Sri Lanka's civil war are enough to drive believers in negotiations to distraction.

Conflict between the government of Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, and rebel separatists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has been under way for at least a quarter century. The Tamils of the north and east of Sri Lanka, seek independence from a state governed primarily by the majority Sinhalese. Confounding the problem is the fact that the Sinhalese are predominantly Buddhist and the Tamils are Hindu.

The Nordic states tried for years to negotiate peace between the two groups, achieving a truce in 2002. The Nordic Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission has sought to have it observed since then, with hopes of political reconciliation.

President Mahinda Rajapakse has now annulled the truce and last week the Nordics withdrew their monitors. Fighting and violence immediately picked up in a war that has claimed 70,000 lives.

Sri Lanka is a poor country, living in part on aid, tourism and remittances from those working overseas. In 2004 it was hit hard by a tsunami, which prompted nongovernmental organizations, including Pittsburgh's own Brother's Brother Foundation, to send substantial aid. The tsunami prompted the Tamil Tigers and the government to cooperate to repair the damage, but only briefly.

The government's decision to end the truce, presumably to seek an all-out military victory over the Tamils, is irresponsible. The United States and other donors should punish it for this colossal folly and pull both parties back to the negotiating table.

There is no reason for the rest of the world to finance the Sri Lankans while they -- led by their government -- slaughter each other. The United States has no business providing military aid to one side or the other in a civil war, particularly when the government in question breaks truces and rejects international efforts such as the Nordics' to negotiate a close to the conflict.