Sri Lanka: Meeting the Western challenge
Although the war in Sri Lanka is now over, the battle for Sri Lanka’s future has only just begun.
Notorious pro-LTTE lawyer Bruce Fein once told a conference by Max Foundation in Tamil Nadu in January this year that “We have the ears of Washington and National Press Club. The next Tamil Eelam war will be fought from the capitals of the western world under the leadership of Washington…….”
Five months on who would expect the gullible Americans to swallow this propaganda hook, line and sinker. Fein the fiend was already accusing Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary and Army Commander of war crimes supposedly long before LTTE was militarily defeated. It was all part of the U.S. backup plan in case the Tigers lost the war. Today we find the American government stands exposed in their disgraceful effort to press charges of against Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defence.
It is no different to the Bush Administration’s big lie about former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, possessing weapons of mass destruction which became an excuse for imposing sanctions on that country and finally invading it.
This background to this is treacherous behind-scene activities of certain opposition MP’s during their visits to the US at the height of Sri Lanka’s military operations against the Tiger terrorists.
The futility of their efforts, like so many other American-led efforts to destabilise and humiliate Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council vote, IMF funds, EU (GSP plus) vote etc., will hopefully be exposed public with advent of the forthcoming elections. This is a classic Western response to a country that has had the courage to stand up to western manipulations as in the case of Cuba and Iran among other countries.
Clearly the current moves for regime change are external. The Opposition’s campaign theme to abolish the powerful Executive Presidency falls very much in line with the overall scheme of things to remove the only constitutional protection for Sri Lanka’s unity and territorial integrity.
Today, just six months after the conflict, they are making impossible demands from the GOSL like quick resettling of IDPs, investigating war crimes, guaranteeing so called media freedom and drawing international attention to the issues. They have managed to get the trade unions to cripple essential services such as petroleum, water, electricity with the hope of generating sufficient pressure to topple the current regime and install a pro-Western government in its place.
In this context, the possibility of the Opposition trying to make General Sarath Fonseka their candidate at the next Presidential Election being part of a wider Washington.-engineered conspiracy cannot be entirely ruled out. Such a plot is no difficult task for a country (USA) which used Cuban Leader Fidel Castro’s own sister against him – though unsuccessfully.
It serves absolutely no purpose in Sri Lankan politicians becoming emotional and reminding Hillary Clinton about Monica Lewinsky, or talking about how the American troops have repeatedly raped and used other forms of sexual violence from Vietnam to Iraq through Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay to Abu Ghraib. Such a response is unnecessary because the whole world knows that it is the American troops who in fact have used “rape and other forms of violence as a tactical weapon of fear on civilians into submission” in all the theatres of conflict in which they have operated up until now.
Sri Lankans need to realise that they in turn can present sufficient evidence of “Crimes against humanity” and “war crimes” committed by US troops in recent times all over the world with the support of other nations at the correct time at proper international forums.
Thus Sri Lankans need not respond to the blatant lies or malicious slander that Hillary Clinton dumped on the UN Security Council in such a high handed arrogant manner or these reports emanating from the State Dept that have come out without any basis or substance.
US army chief in Afghanistan David Kilcullen has gone so far as to say “We need to call off the drones.” (in Afghanistan) since air strikes are creating more enemies than they eliminate. This is the country that is supposedly patronising Sri Lanka when its own troops are killing civilians not only in Afghanistan, Iraq but also in the country that it is strongly aligned to them – Pakistan.
We ought to remember that the Obama Administration has accelerated the move to shift the procurement of America’s natural resource requirements including oil from the Middle East to Africa. The U.S. has acknowledged its loss of influence in the Persian Gulf resulting from its blunders and debacles in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, antagonising and radicalising Muslim populations in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Yet Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to be priorities for the Obama administration. Even though the US has helped to rig Afghanistan’s Presidential Election, the situation remains hopeless and desperate – which is why Washington needs Pakistan’s strategic help to further its strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean region. The hard fact is that the militarization of American Foreign Policy under Obama is no less than under George Bush. It is therefore a small wonder the U.S.-led western alliance needs a firm foothold now more than ever on India’s Southern tip. This is where Sri Lanka needs to be vigilant in the context of her strategic and commercial interests.
The Americans and the West will always want see the break-up of India even before seeing China dismantled; a stronger, independent India will always be the greater threat to Western interest’s commerce and involvement in the region. The US believes that China with its increasing addiction to consumerism will be a lesser threat than a “rural Hindu nationalist India”.
(China’s economy is also tied to America’s as China bankrolls America’s burgeoning debt. We sink or swim together dictum). The changing power relations between them are apparent in that President Obama is the first Democrat who refused to meet the Dalai Lama officially. On the other hand, both China and India have been adopting bullying tactics in bilateral relations with each other have also forged closer bilateral and commercial ties (their trade which stood at US$ 38 bill in 2007, is expected to grow to US$ 60 bill in 2010), together with Russia and the rest of Asia power houses. Beijing maybe wary of India’s look east policy, US-India joint missile defense programme,…etc., but reality is fast dawning on these Asian giants.
The stage is thus set for the next round of nuclear tests by India in spite of Washington’s objections, as India has resolutely decided to fight its own internal and external battle against terrorism. The arms race in the region will no doubt spiral out of control, with India’s ambitious militarization, such as the launch of their nuclear submarines or the testing of Prithvi II missiles and Pakistan’s military leadership will most surely be responding in kind.
To illustrate one example of the dangers that could befall on Sri Lanka……,
Sri Lanka is the only country in the Indian Ocean between the Asian landmass and Antarctica, and thus the closest (around 800-900 miles) South Asian nation to the British-American Naval base of Diego Garcia, which is one of the five most valuable military assets outside the USA.
Should any rival power decide for example to station some long range ICBM missiles like the Dong Hai, Dong Feng missiles in Sri Lanka within striking distance of this massive Sino-American base and Obama new star-wars type missile defence systems would not take the US forces very far in their defence of Diego Garcia.
A scenario like this can easily develop with due to the greed of some errant corrupt Chief Minister of some province or regional council.
In such scenario Sri Lanka could easily have a another North Korea type diplomatic fallout in South Asia which will affect the stability of the entire region.
The Americans know this very well.
It is therefore in the interests of Washington to keep Sri Lanka in a permanent state of weakness and instability (if possible by using the Opposition – now in the political wilderness – for this purpose).
If Asia becomes economically strong and militarily secure, regional forces such as China, India, Russia and Iran can use Sri Lanka to control the Indian Ocean and keep the United States and the Western powers in check. Conversely, if Sri Lanka is weak and unstable such instability will affect all of South Asia allowing Western hegemony in the Indian Ocean to remain unchallenged.
It is therefore not in the interest of the West to see Asian powers such as Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, or Vietnam pursue strategic objectives independent of the USA and other western nations.
Thorny regional security concerns such as the way India has begun to pose a direct threat to Sri Lanka’s future security in its attempt to encircle the country by controlling the maritime waters of the Maldives and Trincomalee should be multilaterally resolved as soon as possible.
However it would be unwise for Sri Lanka to pursue a policy of direct confrontation with the U.S.-led Western alliance in the way Iran, Venezuela, or North Korea are doing.
To illustrate an interesting quote from Global Research of October 23rd 2009 from an article titled “Great Power Confrontation in the Indian Ocean: The Geo-Politics of the Sri Lankan Civil War” by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya says ….
“The position of the governments of India and a group of states that can collectively be called the Periphery such as the US and Australia were in support of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) or Tamil Tigers, either overtly or covertly. Many of these governments also provided support tacitly, so as not to close any future opportunity of co-opting after the fighting was over.
In contrast the governments of of a group of states that can be jointly called Eurasia as a collective entity such as Iran and Russia supported the Sri Lanka government.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a security body with real military dimensions that has been called “the NATO of the East” within some foreign policy circles is a symbol of this geo-political dynamic. In 2009, the last chapter of the Sri Lankan Civil War was very much a theatre within this process.”
Sri Lanka’s post-independence era dealings with the Western powers have been quite different and we must be consistent in our policy of supporting any government in its war against terrorism. At the same time we need to take into cognizance the huge disparity between the aid that countries like China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan gave to Sri Lanka and meagre assistance that UK, USA and other Western governments gave during the war years.
For example in 2008 China gave to Sri Lanka aid worth more than US$ 1 billion, where as the quantum of aid by USA was only a pittance of US$ 7.4 million. Sri Lanka needs support not only for accelerated economic growth, but various strategic areas like naval expansion to satellite communication to nuclear power generation. For these strategic sectors western assistance will never be forthcoming under any circumstances.
In view of the damning report by the US, the GSP plus report, UNHCR resolutions against Sri Lanka, ..etc., it may also be prudent and timely for Sri Lanka to start reviewing the existing clauses in bilateral agreements such as the VOA agreement and other strategic agreements with the USA, given the US Government’s continuous moves against this country’s national interests. Our relationships with the West therefore need radical rethinking.
Before the destruction of the LTTE, every Western-funded INGO and NGO in Colombo said in one voice – that the only solution to the Sri Lankan problem was “A negotiated settlement with the LTTE”.
Some of the funding nations such as Norway, United Kingdom and USA have today deliberately turned a blind eye to pro-Tiger Tamil Diaspora running amok in the West, attacking Sri Lankan diplomatic missions, temples and other property and physically attacking Sri Lankan expatriates who are opposed to Tamil separatism. They feed the media blatant lies about the Sri Lankan state and supply doctored video films and interviews which are used as so-called evidence of war crimes against GOSL by these foreign governments.
They are also targeting and physically attacking Sri Lankan interests and nationals worldwide. The terrorist supporters overseas commit acts of violence with impunity since they are confident that they will never be held accountable for this criminal behaviour.
They have begun a new dimension, the vessel “Ocean Lady” was known as “Princess Iswari” before was one of the LTTE ships on the hit list of the SL Navy which was plying the Pacific Ocean during the war, therefore the Sri Lankan Navy was unable to destroy it. This ship changed its name to sailed off from “Mundra Port” in India and the people who embarked were not refugees or IDP’s from the Wanni as the world has been made to believe but those LTTE operatives from Colombo suburbs fearing arrest.
These people travelled through the “Sundra Straits” while being the movements were monitored by Naval Intelligence sources of various countries such as US, UK, Canada and perhaps even India, though none of them informed the GOSL, fearing that the Sri Lanka Navy would seek out and destroy this target . Even before they arrived in Canada their LTTE Diaspora had prepared a contingent of lawyers. They were ready to take up their cases – passengers on arrival. The same fate happened to the other refugee ship “Viking” off Indonesia where the people in that boat had taken flight to Singapore, then to Malaysia which eventually got caught off Indonesia on their way Christmas Island in Australia…these are no ordinary members of the LTTE but hardcore operative members of the LTTE assembling at specifically designated points in the West …for what we may wonder! Obviously it is to legitimatize a transnational Government of the LTTE. In the process of course they also succeed to give maximum negative media exposure for Sri Lanka.
The time has now come to act and protect Sri Lanka’s interests and those of its citizens aboard. There is only one language the LTTE always understood. It is the ‘language’ of the gun. The arrest of Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) and charges filed against Raj Rajarathnam or Karunakaran Kandasamy now should give enough confidence to the Sri Lankans as to the various options available to them, to strike far away from the shores of their land. Israel is a good example of a government that strikes the enemy far away from their native lands.
The duty of Sri Lanka’s intelligence services and patriotic expatriates is to devise the best possible means of making life is extremely unpleasant for the pro-Tiger Tamil Diaspora in the West. The battle will have to be fought at the doorstep of the terrorists with or without the permission of their landlords.
In this campaign the first line of Sri Lanka’s defence is her diplomatic corps. GOSL needs to reorient the diplomatic corps to meet challenges posed by the West following the LTTE’s military defeat.
In the immediate post-independence era Sri Lanka depended on hand-outs from rich western countries by being non-confrontational and agreeing to most of the conditions laid down by these former colonial powers for their own strategic interests.
It was the first phase which is now long past.
The second phase required a complete political commitment to achieving victory over hostile Western forces, which was rare in the Foreign Service. This is partly due to the fact that their training had been geared towards making them non-confrontational and accepting a subordinate role vis-à-vis the former colonial powers. However in that era (Phase II) of Non-Alignment – particularly under the two Sirimavo Bandaranaike regimes – we had had some committed career diplomats like Vernon Mendis and Neville Kanakaratne who walked a fine line between the Soviet Bloc and the Western powers. Under both the Bandaranaike and Dudley Senanayake Governments Sri Lanka opposed U.S. policies in Vietnam, but was nevertheless able to maintain good relations with Washington.
The third phase was when the country was at war: essentially with the former colonial powers through their proxies such as the LTTE.
A country that has achieved an unqualified military victory over the proxies of its former colonial masters.
The third phase required a complete political commitment to achieving victory over hostile Western forces, which was rare in the Foreign Service. This is partly due to the fact that their training had been geared towards making them non-confrontational and accepting a subordinate role vis a vis the former colonial powers. For the limited duration of the high intensity conflict in its last stages, ad hoc political appointees who did not conform to convention were better suited for the mission at hand in some respects.
We are now in phase four.
Sri Lanka in order to achieve her real potential as an “economically powerful and militarily secure island state” which can withstand any kind of bullying we need to co-opt resources such as capital and technology but control their use within Sri Lanka. Thus we require professional diplomats possessing the necessary technical skills who are personally committed to the tasks ahead.
This requires an independent specialised professional cadre who will survive any political change that will bring about a pro-Western regime in Colombo any time in the future.
In such a service there should and will be no room for officers who seek advancement by conducting themselves as political sycophants. Such persons will blindly do the will of their political masters. They will change their allegiances to any new regime including any pro-western puppet regime which could be established in Colombo. Officers who are now trying to cling on to powers that be from conies around to sibling should never be tolerated in such a service.
To this end the foreign ministry must be re-created as an independent professional institution grounded solely in the ethos and outlook that bought Sri Lanka victory against the Western proxies of “The LTTE terrorists”.
Finally President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s whose popularity is at the zenith should at least to late stage should seriously take note of the damage being done to his image and his government by the cronies around him. They do more harm to the regime and country more than outside forces that only waiting for those in the ruling circles to make blunders.
We have to build many bridges and heal many wounds……..
Sri Lanka demographic window will close in about 2035 (this is the period when Sri Lanka will have the largest cohort of working age people in absolute terms). Even so the growth of the working age population has slowed considerably, while share of elderly people are growing rapidly. This will close off the opportunities for labour force led economic growth in about ten to fifteen years from now. That means we need enough to generate sufficient savings to support the rapidly aging population or in other terms we have to do all our economic growth within these ten to fifteen years.
Therefore we do not have the time to be manipulated by the machinations of a weakening western world driven by its own greed. Sri Lanka must get its act together rapidly. The transfer of technology and capital is more than enough from those so called “Friends of Sri Lanka” who represent the future of the world economic might and military power.
The age old dogma that pervades this English speaking “Colombo’s elite upper and middle classes” that any government that has the courage to stand up on its own two feet to the western prescriptions of keeping a nation weak, unstable and poor is a bad, inefficient.
The “Colombo elitist” or “Colombians” as they are now referred to should get out of their fundamentally flawed thought processes of idealising everything that is comes from the west and join hands in the effort of a new nation building with the help of allies from Asia and Russia.
One needs radical rethinking regarding western “supremacist” using economic tools such as GSP plus diplomatic weapons. Sri Lanka have no time to waste with these westerners, or their agents ….. in its journey to becoming an economically powerful, independent and military secure island state within the next 15 to 20 years……together with the rest of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) growth centres of the world in Eurasia.
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Victory and the Lion stance is commendable, however his excellency failed to control his cronies which can lead to his downfall. Corruption is inevitable with politics but turning a blind eye when basic human rights are being suppressed is something many people will not tolerate in this country. Lankans are fast to forget and empty stomachs takes priority in this small country. One needs to remember parties won by promising bread at 3.50.
If the legacy is to continue Mr. Rajapaksa will need to act fast to take corrective action as it seems the die is cast against him sooner than expected.