By Malinda Seneviratne

Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu has advocated, alternatively, and how! This was in a piece published in a daily newspaper (ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Rajapaksa regime in grip of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-missing enemyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ syndromeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢). He has for a long time operated like an authority of international relations, advocating an alarmist donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t-upset-the-West line (in June, 2009 he wrote: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s foreign policy: missing the wood for the treesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, in www.groundviews.org).

Punditry on foreign policy

Now the piece in the daily newspaper is basically an old script which goes like this: Sara and Co quote some dubious and unverified (deliberately) source and howl; the howl is echoed by the likes of Phillip Alston, Susan Rice, Navi Pillai, HRW and AI; then Sara and Co echo back, in solemn tone. If this is the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”alternativeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ policy to what we already have (with all its weaknesses), then there is only one thing to say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”thank you, noƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. The point is that, Sara is not innocent. Sara is the quintessential agent provocateur; no following as such, compromised by his own contradictions, mischief-making and shady political games with equally shady characters, Sara is the ideal ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”local operatorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for any foreign meddler.

All this is known so I shall not repeat. What was fascinating about his Wednesday howl was his punditry on foreign policy which warrants full quotation:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Foreign policy cannot be conducted through allegation and counter allegation, shrill incoherence and what increasingly looks like incomprehension and incompetence. Most importantly governance cannot be served or sustained by conflict and conspiracy, fear, paranoia and insecurity.

If someone had sent this quotation to me sans the rest of the article and without mentioning the author I would have immediately thought, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”damn, what a great piece on US foreign policy!ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢

So I thought IƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢d flesh it out for Sara. I mean ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”allegationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”counter-allegationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t that the preserve of Uncle Sam? Remember ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”weapons of mass destructionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Iraq, and how Iran is supposed to be making nuclear weapons? Remember how the situation in Grenada in 1983 was seen as a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”threat to US national securityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and prompted that Reagan administration to send in the marines, taking the luster off the New Jewel Movement and the assassination of that countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s democratically elected Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop? A total of 10,000 US troops landed in that tiny island in the Caribbean Sea with a population of less than 100,000 people. It was called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Operation Urgent FuryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Smiling now, Sara? How about you, Ms. Patricia Butenis?

How about ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”shrill incoherenceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢? How about comparing, Barack ObamaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”concernsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ about Tamil civilians and his relative nonchalance, the victims in Gaza? How about his administrations noises about IDPs in Sri Lanka but his determination to stick with a policy in Afghanistan that is designed to churn out hundreds of thousands of IDPs? How about concerns raised by his minions regarding a doctored tape mischievously aired by Channel 4 news while he sits on incriminating photographs depicting torture perpetrated by US troops? How about championing democracy in unfriendly regimes while being good buddies with military juntas, dictatorships, totalitarian regimes and monarchies? Coherence?

Is it ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”incomprehensionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”incompetenceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ on the part of Uncle Sam that hundreds of thousands of civilians are regularly killed or maimed or displaced year in and year out courtesy US foreign policy or a deliberate and coldly calculated strategy which devalues people who are not white or Christian in the rush to secure access to and monopoly of resources and markets?

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Conflict and conspiracyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢: arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t these two words that stand out as the defining signature of US foreign policy (ref innumerable interventions in dozens of countries all over the world, orchestrating coups, assassinating heads of states etc)?

The fear

There are other ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”key wordsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ here: fear, paranoia and insecurity. Remember what happened to non-white people and especially those who had names such as Mohammed in the US in the immediate aftermath of 9/11? Remember what the USA did to Japanese American citizens during World War II? I can understand the fear, the paranoia and insecurity that drives US foreign policy because Uncle Sam has been quite the bully for over a century and bullies are the most insecure and paranoid people around. They know that the good times wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t last and spend their hours looking over their shoulders.

I urge Sara to read what the new US Ambassador told us was the US take on human rights: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Promoting human rights is one of our most important global concerns. No country, including the United States, has a perfect record in safeguarding human rights. We too have been criticized. We believe it to be our responsibility, however, to advocate for the rights and freedoms of people worldwide, even while we work to address our own shortcomings.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Sara may very well believe that he is a champion of human rights in Sri Lanka. I think thatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s a load of nonsense because that championing is compromised by crass and petty politicking on his part. Still, if he believes it, fine. He should not go the whole hog so that he can recover some morality in the business. He must show Sri Lanka that he is serious about these things and he has to start by calling out the US of A. We want a quick take; it wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t take much time, Sara. We want a series of articles on the subject (you have the vocabulary, this we know). And we want a treatise on the subject. This side of such an exercise you will not be able to brush off the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”maliceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ tag, trust me on this.