B. Saranapala Courtesy Daily News

I just finished watching The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s’ report to the UK House of Commons, concerning his recent visit to Sri Lanka. At least ten members from all sides of the House of Commons participated in the ensuing discussion and debate. After listening to these so-called people’s representatives, I have to confess that I have never been so depressed.

My concern is not for the future of Sri Lanka. Against conventional wisdom and all odds, she is on the verge of achieving a fantastic victory against one of the most ruthless terrorist groups on this planet. In the process, Lanka will destroy the myth professed by many in the western liberal progressive elite that there is no military solution to terrorism.

Once LTTE is crushed, Sri Lanka will stand tall among the family of nations. They will look up to Sri Lanka in admiration, even some who are critical of the current operations, will grudgingly acknowledge the achievement in private.

So my worry is not the future of Sri Lanka. It is the state of British Politics and Politicos? The discussion at the Parliament was intellectually dishonest, bankrupt of ideas, and driven by self preservation.

How mother of all parliaments became hostage to a Tamil Diaspora, which comprises a tiny fraction of the UK electorate, is beyond belief. If you think David Miliband is bad enough, you should have listened to some of the others.

They failed to realise that the defeat of the LTTE was in the best interest of the United Kingdom.

After all they are fighting the same war and ideology, albeit against different terror groups. They did shed some crocodile tears about the plight of the civilian population.

Their solution, immediate cessation of hostilities, which is what the LTTE desperately needs for survival. The tragedy is that the consequences of the survival of LTTE did not even enter their mindset.

During the course of the debate Miliband in answer to a question said that he will be discussing with Hillary Clinton the possibility of raising this issue in the UN Security Council. However, he did admit that there was not much support among this body, even to discuss this matter.

Now this brings me to my pet subject, the US role in this matter.

I am somewhat puzzled by the muddle stand taken by the US concerning this issue. Hillary’s statement that the whole world is disappointed with Sri Lanka is diabolical to say the least. When did she start speaking for the Chinese and the Russians?

The talk of using the IMF loan as a bargaining chip to submit Sri Lanka to their will is pathetic. I am puzzled because the defeat of the LTTE is a huge win for the global war on terror, and instead of being disappointed with Sri Lanka, Hillary Clinton should be opening champagne for the celebration of the demise of LTTE.

After all it was her husband, who as President of US in 1997 first proscribed LTTE as a terrorist organisation, in response to the assassination of Dr Neelan Thiruchelvem, who was a friend of the Clintons. US were the second country to outlaw LTTE, and designate it as a terrorist organisation. India was the first to do so, as a response to the assassination of Rajiv Ghandi.

After 9/11 the Bush administration launched the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”War on Terror’. There is no doubt that Sri Lanka either by direct or indirect means benefited enormously. Arms and technology were provided via surrogates such as Pakistan and Israel. As part of Bush’s global war on terror, the FBI carried out a number of sting operations against top LTTE arms smugglers. As a consequence, today most of them are languishing in US prisons.

The War on Terror was multifaceted, and was very successful on the economic front. In the execution of this element of the war, the US introduced stringent controls on international movement of funds and transfers. Under tremendous US pressure the international community adopted these controls, which adversely affected LTTE fund raising activities.

The US also was instrumental in pressurising many western countries to proscribe the LTTE. It is said that without US pressure, the EU comprising 27 countries would never have banned the LTTE. To day the LTTE is a banned organisation in 36 countries, compared to 2001, when it was a proscribed organisation only in US and India. All these events and activities gradually chipped away at the aura of invincibility of the LTTE.

In Bush’s War on Terror, the liberal clichƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚© ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”One’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter’, had no place. To Bush there was only one type of terrorist, and his administration’s determination to destroy global terrorist movements, thwarted the LTTE’s attempt to rebrand themselves as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”freedom fighters’.

So in my view, US quite rightly can take great pride in the demise of LTTE. Instead, the State department under the leadership of Hillary has gone in the opposite direction, and appears to be trying to protect the LTTE. Unfortunately, to Hillary and her progressive liberal cabal there appears to be two types of terrorist, the bad ones and the not so bad ones.

The conventional wisdom among many progressive liberals is that there is no military solution to terrorism, and only way to finally defeat terrorism is to address the underline causes. The annihilation of the LTTE by military means will severely challenge this point of view, and make the liberal elite in Washington, London and other European capitals very uncomfortable.

The ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Conservative Right’ in these countries will use the Sri Lankan experience to promote their hardline agenda, and put liberals on the defensive. Hillary Clinton is a progressive liberal elitist. Self preservation of the liberal ideology appears to be the rationale underpinning the US behaviour.

This brings me to my last point. Who appointed her? President Obama cannot hide behind his Madam Secretary of State. His current policy on Sri Lanka is a disaster, and has angered almost all Sri Lankans of Sinhala origin; most I have to admit were admirers of him.

Unfortunately for him, 70 percent of the inhabitants of that island happened to be Sinhalese. Obama has been and still remains one of the most intelligent, articulate, charismatic and thoughtful individuals to grace the US Presidency.

Unfortunately, he has been presiding over a not so clever administration, and is a prisoner of the progressive liberal ideology, which underpins his thinking. All national and international problems will be viewed through this prism of liberalism, and responded accordingly. Their lies the problem.