Ajit Randeniya

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The 28 August presentations by Jehan Perera and Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu at the so-called US Institute of Peace (USIP) revealed many things about these two individuals.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Perera, following a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”gutlessƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ analysis about the situation in Sri Lanka, pleaded for the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”supportƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the international community. He was careful not to mention money though.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ PaikiasothyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s motive was obviously similar but was expressed more deceptively, and venomously. With the use of meaningless and hackneyed clichƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚©s such as the need to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”move from post-war to post-conflict situation (a journey of thousand miles it seems!) and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”empirical reference pointsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, whatever they could be, Paikiasothy was searching desperately for academic or intellectual veneer to his demented rant! An excellent rebuttal presented with dignity by the Sri Lankan ambassador blunted any effect these two bogus intellectuals would have had.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The futility of this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”dance of the two monkeysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to the neocon tunes cannot be fully illustrated without understanding the background of their host, the USIP. The detail shows that the association between these agents and their friends at the USIP is based on dishonesty of similar scale of the two parties.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The USIP is a congressionally funded ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”think tankƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ created in 1984 during the Ronal Reagan regime, staffed by neocons who plotted the seizure of Iraq’s oil fields. Similar to the front specifically created for undermining Cuba, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), USIP is another product of neocon success in the Reagan and Bush era, aided by Congress, in getting public funding to implement their agenda against progressives internationally. Outrageously, at its creation USIP was mandated with full access to classified information of intelligence agencies.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Under the guise of promoting peace, the USIP facilitates war and occupation. The naming of the Institute as one of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”PeaceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, and describing themselves as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”pursuing nonviolent alternatives to warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ are part of the grand scheme of deception. They are a group of war mongers representing the global oil industry interests of long nosed neocons.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The USIP board of directors, a who’s who of the neocon army, gives the lie to any it being nonpartisan and nonideological peace group as the propaganda suggests. The president since 1993 is Richard H. Solomon, a former National Security Council staff member originating from the RAND Corporation, the think tank that designed the Vietnam War. Vice president Charles E. Nelson is also from RAND and the National War College.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The chairman of the USIP board of directors is J. Robinson West, a Washington lobbyist specialising in representing the major oil companies. Other members of the board include Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who headed the CIA under G. H. W. Bush and Charles Horner, from the ultra militarist Hudson Institute.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A new building complex to house the USIP, nearing completion, will be named after George P. Schultz, the creator of the Bush-Cheney doctrine of preventative (first strike) nuclear warfare, a major military contractor these days.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The activities of USIP show its true nature. It spends tens of millions of tax dollars researching symptomatic problems such as motivations for terrorism, but never the root causes of it such as America’s arming of the Israeli Weltanschauung, or the habit of brutally invading Third World countries to snatch their natural resources.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ USIP takes a special interest in countries with oil reserves. It has several Iraq ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”specialistsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ including Rend Francke, a Jewish Iraqi expatriate who, along with the infamous Ahmed Chalabi, abetted Bush-Cheney-Powell- Rumsfeld axis of evil into invading Iraq in 2003.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ USIP staffers organised the Iraq Study Group, a collection of neocons who finally figured out that their war on Iraq is unwinnable. The Study Group was headed by James Baker and was composed of executives from RAND, Bechtel and Citigroup as well as the Heritage Foundation, Hoover Institution, American Enterprise Institute and the Hudson Institute. To lead the study, USIP partnered with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a similar group run by executives from the Carlyle Group, the Coca-Cola Company, Merrill Lynch & Co., Exxon Mobile Corp, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Time Inc. and alleged war criminal Henry Alfred Kissinger.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In October 2008, USIP produced a report by a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Pakistan Policy Working GroupƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ as part of an avalanche of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”bipartisanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ reports that were being churned out by Washington-based neocon think tanks aiming to influence the policies of the in-coming administration. Group members included former senior officials who served in the State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, and the National Security Council, and representatives from the the Brookings Institution and RAND Corporation. The report was endorsed by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage from the Republican side and the former cochairman of the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group, Lee Hamilton from the Democrat side. The report was cosponsored by Armitage’s consulting firm, Armitage International, the right-wing Heritage Foundation; and DynCorp International, major contractor with the State Department and the USAID.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The USIP report created the South Asian agenda for the Obama administration, branding Pakistan the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”greatest single challengeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, and recommending aid cuts unless it commits itself to the counterinsurgency struggle against the Taliban and al Qaeda. The report also asserted that Washington is justified in carrying out unilateral cross-border attacks into Pakistan against terrorist targets until Islamabad shows ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”that it is ready and willing to act aggressivelyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ against them on its own. All this from the Institute of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”PeaceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Paikiasothy is aiding and abetting these rogues by attempting to underplay the security aspect of the IDP management and by trying to make human rights the central issue. While any one human would want to give the IDPs a better life, it must also be remembered that there are several million others in Sri Lanka whose accommodation, nutrition and education issues are as grave as those of the IDPs.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Fraudsters like Paikiasothy should be asked the question, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”What about their Human Rights? How can their concern be so selective?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ PaikiasothyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s attempt to communicate rubbish is made more difficult by his ridiculous, nondescript accent. It is suggestive of an attempt to ape his masters gone tragically wrong! He spoke of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”shƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢allenges and reconƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢shƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢illiation, prompting a Sri lankan member in the audience to retort that it was all ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”chƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢it.