By Dr UPUL WIJAYAWARDHANA Courtesy The Island

Perhaps, I should have titled this US Ambassador, please mind your business” as she seems to be the busybody, doing her utmost to interfere in the internal affairs of our country; much against the accepted international diplomatic norms. But she is not in isolation, as there seem to be other ambassadors, too, though less repetitious than her, who seem to be under the impression that they are viceroys rather than ambassadors. Perhaps, it is not entirely their fault, as there are some political parties who regularly subservient themselves, helping these ambassadors to come to such grandiose assumptions. Of course, there are other embassies that seem keen on issuing statements on behalf of our Foreign Ministry. Then again, this happens because our Foreign Ministry seems to be in a state of eternal slumber! It looks as if this is the price we, as a country, have to pay for being in a strategic location where superpowers are fighting for dominance.

The latest tweet from the US Ambassador is about presidential pardons, a process misused not only by our presidents but also by presidents of her country, which is better at preaching than practice! To my knowledge, our ambassadors have not issued statements about the actions, even that need condemnation, of the presidents in her country. In the hard-hitting editorial Presidency should be straitjacketed” (The Island, 26 June) which lays bare the naked hypocrisy of all concerned, there is a tongue-in-cheek agreement with the American Ambassador’s criticism of the presidential pardon for Duminda. Whilst wholeheartedly agreeing with the editor that there should be agreed procedures for presidential pardons than give a free-hand, as at present, going through the list of pardons he mentions, this does not seem the worst. Gota simply seems to have followed the hallowed traditions established by JR!

I, too, would have joined the chorus of heavy criticism of the President but for two reasons, the most important being the leaked telephone conversations between Rajan Ramanayaka and those involved in the case, which gave the impression that the punishment was ‘fixed’. My knowledge of the law is next to nothing, but a common-sense approach makes me wonder how a man who was already on the ground, after being shot, by the time the fatal shot was fired could be guilty of murder and imposed the death penalty. The said telephone conversations too support the theory advanced by some that guilt was manipulated or exaggerated. Aren’t those who manipulated the over-punishment as guilty as the President who found flimsy grounds for a pardon?

Whatever it is, it is an internal matter and should not be the concern of the US Ambassador. I do not need to exhibit the niceties of our editor to her, as I have nothing to lose by being blunt. Afterall, the only goal left in my life is the grave! Do we need lessons on justice from the ambassador of the country that has mass murderers on its payroll? Of course, I am referring to her ex-presidents who have destroyed many countries and killed thousands in the process; all in the name of good governance. George W Bush, at least, remains silent, unlike Saint Obama, who pops up frequently! Jointly, have they not destroyed the Middle East?

Gordon Brown, who was an excellent British Chancellor but a poor Prime Minister, revealed in a recent candid interview that the US purposely misled the British Government about weapons of mass destruction (WMD). When Tony Blair, another frequent pop-up, told the British Parliament that Saddam Hussain had WMDs that could be activated in 45 minutes, was he purposely telling lies to the British public or had he swallowed dead-ropes by Americans, hook, line and sinker? Whatever it was, he was hand-in-glove with Bush, and jointly responsible for destroying Iraq and killing almost 500,000. Obama, together with Cameron and Sarkozy, did a similar demolition job in Libya and Syria. All three countries are worse off than before the American-led invasions. The UN, which passed resolutions to give cover to these invasions, does nothing but hounds us for defeating terrorism.

Interestingly, the tweets from the US Embassy and the SJB had striking similarities. Who is dictating to whom or are they singing from the same hymn-sheet? It is no secret that the Leader of the Opposition is in regular touch, but he seems not to have learned lessons from history. JR was one of the strongest supporters of the US and the West, but they denied his request for arms to supress terrorism! Americans, British and French were more interested in saving Prabhakaran than helping us defeat terrorism. When we defeat terrorists, rather than support us, they harass us. Do we need advice from them?

The bane for true reconciliation is the ethnic minority parties whose only priority is self-serving. At the drop of a pin, they run to the offices of our neighbouring viceroys! Instead, they should cooperate with the government of the day in finding solutions, rather than getting the big-brother to bully us.

Whilst telling ambassadors to mind their own business, we should pressurise our government to stop politicking and start nation building.