BY REAR ADM SARATH WEERASEKERA

Ms Samantha Power, the former US Ambassador to UN, delivered the key note address at the function marking Mangala Samaraweera’s  30 years in politics. Amongst those present were the President MS , PM RW and the Opposition leader MR.  Every one knows how the country plunged into disaster due to the infamous Geneva 30/1 resolution and many query as to why the President and Mahinda Rajapaksha attended this function knowing that Samatha Power and Mangala Samaraweera were the chief architects of that treacherous resolution.

Who is Samantha Power?  Well, she is a neocon agent who, with people like Victoria Nuland and Susan Rice, led the 2012 neocon campaign against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.

In 1995, she joined George Soros’ International Crisis Group as a political analyst monitoring the implementation of the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian war. In 1999, she went to Kosovo and Cambodia on trips funded by George Soros’s Open Society Institute.

In 2008, she served as senior foreign policy adviser on Obama’s presidential campaign, before famously stepping down for referring to Hillary Clinton as “a monster”. Returning upon Obama’s win she was appointed as the US Ambassador to the UN.

Power spearheaded the US strategy to undermine the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations. She led the efforts to weaken the impact of the Goldstone Report that found Israel guilty of crimes against humanity. In 2012, Power turned her attention to Syria, convincing the White House to establish an Atrocities Prevention Board (APB).

Samantha, in her book Problem from the hell”, implied that US should control the world. In it she says US intervention in the age of genocide is not enough .

Samantha Power consistently stood on behalf of Paul Kegaman, the head of the Ruwanda Patriotic Front ,who was supposed to be responsible for the large scale genocide in Ruwanda.

In 2016 Samantha Power was caught using her security clearance as a U.N. Ambassador to review private conversations by U.S. citizens. She was brought before the House Intelligence Committee to explain her actions.  It was revealed that Samantha Power has made as many as 260 requests to “unmask” Trump associates in 2016. Power in her defense said, it was’nt me, someone else in Obama white house did it using my security clearance”. Trump dismissed her as soon as he took office.

Regarding this case, Jay Latimer, an international writer, on June 6th 2018, in an article to an American news paper, wrote as follows.

There are two possibilities: that she is telling the truth, in which case someone else in the Obama administration is lying,  Or she is lying herself.

Let’s consider the implications if she’s lying.  Power, a supposed human rights activist and a darling of the left, came into her office every day and was reading the transcripts of private conversations of her fellow Americans, wiretapped by federal agents. 

Why is Samantha Power herself so seemingly unconcerned about this violation of public trust?  Wouldn’t you expect this brave journalist, the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the champion of the people, to be at least a little bit curious as to exactly who it was in the Obama administration who stole her passwords and used her security clearance in such a blatantly undemocratic and unlawful manner?

These are the credentials of Samantha Power who comes here to preach us about democracy, good governance , accountability and rule of law. In her key note address Power said Here in Sri Lanka, during the recent crisis, your citizens made themselves heard, with many of them speaking not for parties or personalities but in defense of your hard earned Democracy” . She said so in front of  President Sirisena and  Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksha  who were supposed to be the ones responsible for that crisis in which Democracy was alleged to have been undermined.

There was never a crisis neither the Yahapalana government toppled undemocratically. When the PA MPs left UNF the National Government collapsed and the cabinet dissolved in order to reduce the number to 30 as per the 19A. The President then appointed MR, whom he believed could command the confidence of the majority in Parliament, as the new PM. That course of action was legal, done democratically, and that’s why the Yahapalana leaders did not go to courts. They went to Supreme Court ( SC) only when President Sirisena dissolved the Parliament (P), challenging that as per the 19A, President cannot dissolve  Parliament for 4 ½ yrs.

President  dissolved the P as per para 33(2)C of the constitution. However surprisingly, the SC ruled that the dissolution was unconstitutional. Why it is surprising is because , in 2002, when a constitutional amendment was proposed denying the President the power to dissolve the P before 4 ½ yrs, the SC rejected it stating that such an amendment requires the approval of the public through a referendum. Then how come in 2015 ,the same clause in 19A was not rejected by the SC as in 2002? The only reason would have been the provision mentioned in 33(2) C of the Constitution.  But if that provision has no value, then the  Supreme Court judgment in 2015 on 19A, (without referring it to a referendum), was wrong. If it was right, obviously the SC judgment given in December 2018 regarding the dissolution of P was wrong.

So these are our internal political matters and Samantha Power has no right to interfere. She is also not qualified to comment on our judiciary, whether it stood by the constitution and enforced the rule of law with great independence or not, because, our judiciary has a history of 200 years, slightly less than the history of her entire country.

Samantha said Your hope, Mangala, that Sri Lankans create a civilized society where humanity and decency flourish and the rule of law is respected . I look forward to the continued friendship between our two nations as we work together to make it happen”. In other words, she thinks that the Sri Lankans,  are uncivilized and indecent and she likes to render her fullest support  to make us civilized and decent. All Sri Lankans must take note of it.

Talking about decency and rule of law, lets speak about the 30/1 Geneva Resolution against Sri Lanka proposed by her country America and co sponsored by her friend Mangala . The resolution drafted by Washington and the enforcer was Jeffry Feltman, notorious for engineering regime change in countries of national interest to USA by fomenting violence and breaking sovereign states into ethnic enclaves. Behind this resolution is the concept of R2P advanced by Washington. Its objective is to condition state sovereignty and legitimize unilateral US intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states to achieve its goals. Accountability is the pillar on which R2P stands.

As Tamara Kunanayakam, the former Ambassador and Permanent Rep of UN in Geneva says, R2P is a weapon in the hands of the powerful to be utilized against weaker states that opt for an independent path.  It is the modern version of the  white man’s burden” of late 19th century used by US and UK, as justification of their savage colonial wars.

They used it in 2015 Jan 8th to remove MR , spent approx. 200 million US $ for the regime change. That’s why John Kerry, the then Secretary of State, just after the results were released said,  we are part of the victory” . How could John Kerry be a part of our Presidential election? We ask Samantha Power, was it a decent or a civilized move?

They use US treasury,  IMF and World bank, in such a way that third world countries such as Sri Lanka are made permanently indebted and dependent allowing them to interfere and dominate. When the Yahapalana  government was toppled in late October last year, Samantha tweeted early Nov as follows; The dangers of Sri Lankan constitutional crisis are clear. Violence is possible and Rajapakshas return to power will likely end flagging efforts of ethnic reconciliation.  Sri Lanka must know that suspending aid, targeted sanctions are on the table. 500 million US aid, trade privileges, Japanese loan of 1.4 billion US$ hang in balance”. Was it a friendly comment or an uncivilized / indecent  threat? Is’nt it hilarious if not contemptuous that such a person is trying to preach us how to become civilized and decent?

Accountability is another aspect Samantha Power is harping on. Samantha’s decency did not permit her to comment on accountability” during LTTE atrocities. Everyone including Samatha sprang into action calling for accountability only after we crushed the LTTE . That is a clear indication as to which side Samantha supports, a sovereign state or a bunch of terrorists who failed in their attempt to separate that country.

America invaded Iraq killing hundreds of thousands including retreating Iraqi soldiers whom General Schwarzkopf  referred to as sitting ducks”.  America imposed a criminal embargo against Iraq and as per the UNISEF, 90,000 died every year due to hunger. In 2006 May 12th , Ms Leslie Stall of CBS asked Madlene Albright, the then US Ambassador in UN, that due to the US blockade,  one million people have died in Iraq in which half of them were children and whether it worth the price. Albright hesitated for a moment and replied well , it was a hard choice, but I think it worth”. So much so about the  accountability” that Samantha Power is trying to preach us.

Samantha Power, with her cohorts like Mangala Samaraweera,  try to punish our war heroes charging them with war crimes. Six  world renown war crime experts such as Sir Desmond have very clearly reported that our forces never committed any war crime and commended them for winning a terrorist war whilst rescuing such a large number of civilians. The sea Tiger leader Suse was the Navy’s arch rival who destroyed many a naval ship. During the height of the war, at mid night in mid sea, the SL Navy apprehended the boat carrying  Suse’s wife and children. Only the CO of the Navy boat and the Sec Defence  Gotabhaya knew the identity of the passengers. They were unharmed and today, Suse’s family is living happily amongst Sinhalese.

We saw how President Obama and Samantha were watching the live operation carried out by US marines who stormed into a house and killed Osama Bin laden together with  his wives and children. That was the difference between SL and US troops who fought against terrorism. Samantha Power should learn from us about  accountability” and  rules of war” before she plans her next visit here.