“U.S. engagement with Sri Lanka robust and multifacetedâ€ÂÂÂ
Posted on April 9th, 2013
Asada M ErpiniƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka has come out with the typical diplomatic jargon that does not mean anything worthwhile, and which also could be interpreted to mean any viewpoint depending on oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s position. She is reported in the media on 09 April, to have said that the dealings with Sri Lanka are ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-robust and multifacetedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. The report adds that the lady said, the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-relationship is not limited to a single agenda, but represents a truly multidimensional approach driven not by any short-term agenda but by long-term goalsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ First and foremost, the writer is reminded of the classic British comedy ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Yes, MinisterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the early eighties and its enviable Permanent Secretary of the Department of Administrative Affairs, Sir Humphrey Appleby. The US Ambassador, however, could beat Sir Humphrey hands down. All Sri Lankans who have an iota of intelligence or education know that the US ambassador has to parrot what she has been dished out by her bosses in Washington DC, but taking for granted that all Sri Lankans are dumb idiots who will swallow, hook, line and sinker, the rubbish that emanates from the representatives of some of the rich nations and interpret that to mean that they are well-meaning is certainly not within acceptable limits.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The engagement with Sri Lanka, according to the US ambassador, is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-robust and multifacetedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. As far as the writer knows robust also means tough, forceful or strong. Multifaceted literally stands for many-sided.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The statement has nothing, in clear and simple English (or in American English), to imply that the US is sympathetic to the problems that the nation of Sri Lanka suffered over a three decade period at the hands of a marauding gang of terrorists who were egged on, overtly or covertly,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by the richest nations of the world.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ All peace-loving Sri Lankans know, for sure, that the US involvement is multifaceted. They know very well that it has several irons in the fire. If the so-called diplomacy fails, it has many of its lackeys, in Europe, South Asia and even in Sri Lanka to do its bidding under the guise of safeguarding human rights and democracy.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is somewhat naƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚¯ve for the US ambassador to add that its ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-approach (is) driven not by any short-term agenda but by long-term goalsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Is it necessary to point out this stance? All Sri Lankans, including the ones who are ready to sell the heart and soul of Sri Lanka for bundles of greenbacks as well as those who dream of regaining the cherished positions at the helm of power, know that the US will pursue its strategies as long as needed for it to undermine sovereign nations that do not tow its line.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is time that the lady from the US accepts that Sri Lanka is capable of handling its affairs without the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-robust relationshipƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ that is supposed to exist between the two countries. After all, puny Sri Lanka managed to annihilate the Sri Lanka-based military wing of the LTTE in spite of the roadblocks erected by one of the previous Secretaries of State of the US and her pals from the EU. Furthermore, all this happened when the mighty US, with its immense military power, is bogged down in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya and Syria in its miscalculated and fraudulent measures taken in the guise of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-exporting democracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”primitivesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.
April 9th, 2013 at 5:15 pm
What I understood from this jargon is that this woman is saying “We screwed you in the past! We are screwing you right now!! We will continue to screw you in the future!!!”
April 9th, 2013 at 6:32 pm
US also engaged with Cuba, Chile, Panama, Guatamela, Vietnam, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and many others in a ‘robust and multifacted’ way too. Death and destruction of these nations and their peoples are just co-lateral damage which the US just couldn’t avoid in the process of restoring democracy, freedom, joy and all other good things in life we will die for. The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka is just the angel we have been waiting for…..say some more sweet words, dear lady!
April 9th, 2013 at 8:22 pm
When this Phillipino woman was appointed I thought she will be different to Bloody Lake and Butt Tennis. But she is of the same siht.
April 10th, 2013 at 1:30 am
We have always said that a Tamil Dominated Northern Provincial Council was the FIRST STEP to an independent Tamils-only Eelam.
Well, here is the PROOF: TNA says a Provincial Council under the 13th Amendment IS NOT ENOUGH for them! Nothing will EVER BE ENOUGH!
Are we still supposed to PARLEY with UNREPENTANT SEPARATISTS, or should we SCRAP the 13th Amendment, draw up the drawbridges and PREPARE TO DEFEND the Integrity of the Motherland?
There is NO OTHER CHOICE!
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Sri Lanka Tamil leaders demand an interim self-government
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Apr 10, Colombo: The Tamil people in Sri Lanka can find solutions to their grievances only through an interim self-government, Tamil political leaders have told the visiting Indian joint parliamentary delegation.
Demanding an interim administration, Tamil representatives who met the Indian MPs in Jaffna had told the Indian delegation that the Provincial Council system under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution are inadequate to solve their problems, BBC Sinhala Service reported.
Quoting the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP E. Sarawanabawan, the BBC said that all Tamil MPs belonged to several parties and the religious and civil society leaders asked the delegation for an interim self-government.
“We all said we wanted an interim self-government,” the MP was quoted as saying.
The TNA MP has said that the Indian parliamentary delegation did not respond to their request.
A five-member joint parliamentary delegation comprising delegates from all Indian political parties arrived in Sri Lanka Monday night for a for a five-day tour from April 8-12. The visit, organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), is aimed at enhancing the relationship between the two countries.
The delegation comprises Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress), Sandeep Dikshit (Congress), Anurag Thakur (BJP), Dhananjay Singh (BSP), and Prakash Javadekar (BJP) accompanied by two FICCI representatives.
April 10th, 2013 at 6:25 am
We have always said that a Tamil Dominated Northern Provincial Council was the FIRST STEP to an independent Tamils-only Eelam.- No Wrong , it is Second step ( first step is 13A) ! our first Saiva Thamil Eela Priminiter will be elected on September 2013 ( SL Govt call him CM of NP)
FYI, Third step at Kachchatheevu !( four /five indians are doing ground work at Jalpanam Today you Modaya !
You never learn anything , modaya always modaya any way !
We kicked out these indian (IPKF) & We Thamil will again !!! until you sell our mother (i)lanka(i) Lanka puri to Indian !!!
April 11th, 2013 at 12:55 pm
INTERNET communications is now an essential engine for economic growth and education, and it facilitates the efficient delivery of government services to citizens.
Therefore, Sri Lanka must make every effort to improve INTERNET availability to its citizens.
One idea is to develop and maintain a NATIONWIDE HIGH-SPEED WIRELESS NETWORK, and provide BASIC low-bandwidth access to it for free, while high-bandwidth access for power users and businesses is made available for a reasonable price.
This service should be government owned and tax-supported and provided as a UTILIY SERVICE. However, its operation can be contracted out to private companies.
Such FREE WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS is available in many US cities, including San Francisco.
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Sri Lanka moves up two notches in the Global Network Readiness Index
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Apr 11, Colombo: Sri Lanka has improved its position by two places in the recently published Global Network Readiness Index (NRI) which measures a nation’s or community’s degree of preparation, to participate in and benefit from ICT developments which happen to be the driving force in today’s world.
The NRI featured in the Global Information Technology Report (GITR) 2013, published by the World Economic Forum, establishes an international framework by which the performance in networked readiness of a large number of economies/countries can be assessed and benchmarked against one another over a period of time.
With the two-place improvement, Sri Lanka at 69th place out of 144 countries surveyed trails its neighbor India by just one rank although the score remained same as last year at 3.88.
Sri Lanka and India are the only two countries in the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) group to rank higher than the 100th mark. Other SAARC members are below the 100th mark of the NRI with Pakistan down by three at 105th, Bangladesh at 114th, and Nepal at126th.
This year’s Global Information Technology Report, focusing on ICTs for growth and jobs, places a spotlight on the role that technology can have in economic growth and employment.
Sri Lanka scored very high in the affordability measure with mobile cellular tariffs ranking at 5th place based on purchasing power parity and second for fixed broadband. However Sri Lanka ranked low in internet and telephony completion at 129th.
In the Political and regulatory environment category, Sri Lanka ranked 25th for the effectiveness of national parliament as law-making bodies and ranked around the mean at 56th place for the independence of the judiciary from influences of members of government, citizens or firms.
Sri Lanka ranked at 33rd place for the efficiency of legal system in settling disputes while ranking at 34th for efficiency of legal system in challenging regulations.
Although ranked high overall, Sri Lanka’s internet access at home was poor placing at the 104th place out of 144 countries and only 5.9% households were with Internet access at home.
Finland reached the top of the NRI rankings for the first time, due to improvements across the board while Singapore remained 2nd overall, slightly improving its score.
The United Kingdom climbed up three notches, placing at 7th and posting the biggest rank improvement among the top 10 economies while the United States slipped to 9th place, its worst showing since the start of the ranking in 2001.
April 11th, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Hey SA Kumar, you phrase “modaya always modaya any way” caught my attention.
Prior to May, 2009, when they suddenly disappeared, Eelamists trolling Patriotic websites such as DefenceWire, always kept calling Sri Lankan Patriots “Modayas”.
I suppose there was some truth to that then, because for 30 years successive Sri Lanka governments had allowed them to thrive killing its people, and bamboozling the world at large, without summoning all of its considerable resources to fight the terror in the way it should have been fought. The mollycoddling gloves finally came off in 2006 with the election of the present government to power.
Up to that time, the LTTE never had its butt kicked REALLY HARD, and the attitude of the Eelamist cheerleaders was that the demise of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces was all but a foregone conclusion, confident in their own delusions that they were “Super-Intelligent”, “Cyanide Pill Biting”, “Suicide Bombing” Tamil warriors led by the incomparable “SunGod” who could do no wrong in their eyes.
All that began to change when Kilinochchi failed to become the Graveyard of the Sri Lankan Army,
and the LTTE was abjectly defeated in EVERY BATTLE, and FINALLY corralled behind their human shield. The human shield itself was then penetrated, civilians rescued, and the LTTE as a military organization was eradicated by root, trunk, branch and leaf.
The internet warriors of Eelam went into shock, and disappeared from the scene in May 2009, when the “Thalaivar” was displayed along the banks of Nanthikandal lagoon, staring at the sky with half his head missing. The SunGod, after all, had been proven to be mortal like the rest of the modayas.
Nowadays, gone are the Thalaivar Worshipping Eelamist warriors. Every Eelamist has magically transformed himself/herself into that other category of Eelamists: INNOCENT VICTIMS. No WARRIORS now, just VICTIMS only.
One thing, however, remains the same: their DISHONESTY.
The Eelamists who hoodwinked the external world into believing they were VICTIMS, even as they pitilessly murdered tens of thousands of people at will by every foul means imaginable in Sri Lanka, has now become emboldened by the TEMPORARY success they are having in LABELLING and DEMONIZING Sri Lanka overseas. Now, they are not warriors, but reduced to posing as innocent victims, only because the Sri Lanka Armed Forces eliminated their ability to wage physical war of any kind in Sri Lanka.
As in the case of the Thalaivar and the various Tamil separatist terror groups, the day is coming when the current crop of Eelamists will get their comeuppance. The Eelamists have LEARNED NOTHING from the foiling of their best laid plans to date, for when the usually tolerant and patient majority community of Sri Lanka wakes up …. nothing can stand in their way. NOTHING.
Clearly, it is the Eelamists who have been amply demonstrated to be the “Real Modayas” who “Learned Nothing”, for they allowed those they disparaged as “Modayas” to put them in their current predicament, the “Super Intelligence” of the Eelamist notwithstanding. So, I fondly ask “Who are the Real Modayas”?
My advice to you is: LEARN from the PAST and stop banging your head against the Sinhala rock … It will not yield!
April 11th, 2013 at 2:44 pm
The long term agenda of the US is clear for everybody to see. It is to dismember Sri Lanka paving way to Eelam and Christu Rajya in the North Western Province, then use these to balkanise India in collusion with Tamil Nadu. The short term goal is regime change by whatever means – Current trend is to use the same tactics they so successfully used in the the various hued revolutions in the former Soviet States as well as in the Arab Spring – bring people into the streets and later arm them clandestinely and much later openly to safeguard – “Human Rights and Democracy”.
Sri Lanka needs to strengthen its armed forces, weed out sleepers, moles and other vermin from within armed forces, exercise gun control throughout the island to eliminate the possible mini insurrections. The Sri Lanka must move on to become self sufficient in our essential food and medical supplies. We must move towards active independence from India supplied goods.
One of the reasons why Sri Lanka is being treated as a pariah nation is because we are still weak and considered not trustworthy. If we are strong and dependable on what we say and do then other countries will take note and take a different attitude and the long term and short term agendas of countries like US will change.
Singapore is a good model to follow in this scenario. We must show to the world that the sea lanes to the south of Sri Lanka are safe and secure. In fact Sri Lanka should take an active role in policing the shipping lanes.