{"id":110993,"date":"2021-01-25T18:06:01","date_gmt":"2021-01-26T01:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110993"},"modified":"2021-01-25T18:06:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T01:06:01","slug":"the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/25\/the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c11\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POHOTTUWA GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA Part 2 C11"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The storming\nof the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 has made a significant\nimpact on the domestic politics of the USA. It is   seen as a possible sign of things to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Capitol attack was preceded by several other similar events. There\nwas a white    supremacist rally, in\nCharlottesville, Virginia in 2017.  White\nsupremacists marched through the streets chanting racist and anti-Semitic\nslogans. In the 2000 Presidential election, the recount in Florida was   disrupted by Republican Party   agitators. In April 2020, armed protesters\nwent to the State Capitol in Michigan to protest Covid 19 lockdown. They were\nin a violent mood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arieh Kovler,\na political consultant who studied extremist Trump messages anticipated the\nattack. On January 6, armed Trumpist militias will be rallying in DC, at\nTrump’s orders,\u201d he wrote on Twitter on December 21st. It’s highly likely that\nthey’ll try to storm the Capitol after it certifies Joe Biden’s win.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 These people were sharing maps of Washington\nD.C, said Kovler. They had a map of the tunnels in the basement of the Capitol,\nand they were talking about how they’re going to stop Congress from\nleaving.   They imagined there was going\nto be mass executions of Congressmen, said Kovler. Others who had also seen the Twitter feeds\nhad emailed the Washington DC police warning them of a possible siege.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say\nmuch of the activity on January 6 was chaotic, disorganized and indicative of a\nspontaneous riot.Many did not know what to do when they got into the Capitol\nbuilding.<\/strong> However,\nanalysts observed”The people who made up the herd did not appear\norganized, but within them clearly there were people who were organized. You\nhad a riotous mob and within that you had domestic terrorists who were clearly\nplanning something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were\nattackers in organized columns. A woman shouting instructions on a megaphone. More\nthan a dozen men wearing assault force-type garb push up the Capitol steps in a\nline, cutting through the dense crowd toward the building’s doors. Several\ncarried zip ties that could be used to restrain hostages. Attackers had said\nthings like Hang Mike Pence, find lawmakers and bring them to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nparticipation of the militia, the discovery of pipe bombs planted nearby, and\nthe apparent threats to capture members of Congress and the Vice President,\nwere signs of plotting. There was planning and coordination, said analysts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There appears\nto have been communications between those inside the building and outside, as\nwell.  It is possible that the attack was\nplanned, with help from insiders. Many, who broke into the offices of top\nlegislators such as Speaker\u2019s office, appeared to know how to navigate the\nmaze-like Capitol.”They knew where to go. Somebody on the inside of those\nbuildings was complicit in this,\u201d analysts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also\nnoted that groups of Trump supporters had toured the Capitol for\n“reconnaissance” a day before the attack. They could only have gained\naccess to the Capitol complex from a Member of Congress or their staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts also\nadded if the intruders were Black Lives Matter the security services would have\npicked off the intruders before they reached the entrance. Instead, many police\nwere supportive, taking selfies with the invaders, removing barricades, and\nignoring the rioters\u2019 antics, reported the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack on the Capitol cast its shadow on the inauguration of\nthe new President. Some did not attend as they were worried about security.\nOthers had come wearing bullet proof vests. The Capitol attack was not pushed\nunder the carpet, by the media at the inauguration, as one would expect.  It was given prominence at the function\nitself. It was mentioned in the very first speech by Senator Amy Klobouchar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NBC coverage of the proceedings, continually recalled the\nattack on the Capitol, Video clips of the event were shown. NBC ended its\ncoverage saying that there have been 120 arrests, 350 under investigation and\nthe FBI was going ahead with arrest for possible sedition, conspiracy, or\nmurder.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 US remains tense and\nanxious. US recognizes the attack on the Capitol as a significant event in\nAmerican politics and it is not something that can be attributed to Trump\nalone. 70,000 voted against Biden. There is genuine fear as to the power of\nthis group. The roads used by the President on inauguration day were fenced in,\nincluding the route to Arlington cemetery. Television observed that this type\nof protection is usually associated with places like Kabul, not Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US is now\nconsidered a deeply divided nation. There is disagreement regarding the\nPresidential vote. Only Sixty-five percent of Americans believe Biden was\nlegitimately elected as president, 147\nrepublican House and Senate members had voted to overturn the Presidential\nelection even after the attack on the Capitol, said Economist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An NBC poll\nfound that Americans were deeply polarized, they felt divided, pessimistic and\nworried about the future.  Country is\nfacing an economic crisis, said one commentator .US  suffers from unemployment and homelessness\nthough is more hidden than in say, India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hindu said, Biden would do well to remember, as he goes about\ndismantling the Trump legacy, that 74 million people voted for his opponent,\nand Trump has encouraged them to believe that the election was stolen. If the\nCapitol building attack was an indication of the unhinged rage seething below\nthe ostensibly peaceful transfer of power, it may not be long before the\nAmerica of economically disenchanted white privilege again rears its head in a manner\nthat today\u2019s political victors find unsavory,\u201d concluded  Hindu.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a\ngrowing far right, white supremacy militia\nmovement in the U.S. There are \nmore than 180 armed militias today. There is one\ncolored militia the NFAC, the rest are white.  They are more open, better armed, that\nthe earlier KKK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Proud\nBoys ,a leading militia, is a far-right \nwhite supremacist  group. It  is patrols Maga [Make America Great Again]\nmarches across the country.  “American Wolf” \nmilitia from the Washington  state\ncan be seen out on patrol during Black Lives Matter rallies. They are against\nthe Black Lives Matter movement. They\nare also  against  the creation of a socialist society in US. Had  they made such a statement in Sri Lanka, they\nwould have been lynched themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Wisconsin armed  right wing militia swaggered openly in public\nspaces, unchecked, during Presidential election time. In Michigan  they were against lockdown. They\nsaid  that\ngovernment could not tell them what to do. They had wanted to kill the Governor as well.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nthe  US Presidential election of\n2020  militia groups were parading in the\nstreets of America’s city, fully armed. \nEmboldened by President Trump\u2019s aggressive rhetoric, far-right vigilante\ngroups have been training with firearms, patrolling the streets and even\nplanning high-profile kidnappings, reported the media. They are well\norganized. They are armed. They carry their weapons openly and make it clear they\u2019re not\nafraid to use them”. If the election does not turn out their way\nthere could be violence, feared the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The violence\nthat resulted was the storming of the Capitol building and the militia were\nthere.  Militias  such as the violent Three Percenters, Oath\nKeepers and Proud Boys, participated in the attack on the Capitol. Some had\ntraveled to Washington from as far as Hawaii., reported the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\nanother angle to these militias. TIME has noted that these militias   go to Ukraine for training. Ukraine\u2019s\nAzov Movement, has been recruiting and training American citizens for years,\nreported TIME. Ukraine\u2019s Azov Movement, was an obscure militia in 2014. After\nthe Ukraine ‘revolution’ of 2014,   it\nhas now blossomed into a full scale training unit with a vast arsenal of\nweapons to train on. White supremacy militias come over from USA for the\ntraining <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Azov has\ngrander  own plans. Azov  mission is to form a coalition of far right groups\nacross Europe, with the ultimate aim of taking power throughout Europe,   said TIME. Azov plans to\nlead the white nations of the world  on a\nfinal crusade for their  survival against\nJews and Muslims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US has its admirers in Sri Lanka .They\nare providing us with howlers. Cassandra compared the Capitol invasion with two\nevents in Sri Lanka Parliament. The first is the  opening of Parliament chamber to members of\nthe public  in 1956.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is difference which Cassandra has\nmissed. The Sri Lanka public were not storming Parliament to kill and destroy,\nthey came to rejoice. this was Ape Aanduwa, voted in full of hope and the  public wanted to see where the decisions were\nmade. SWRD correctly allowed them to come in. The second    event was simply an antic carried out by\nthe  MPs themselves  inside the chamber. There is no comparison\nbetween it and the Capitol invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another commentator said that after the  Capitol invasion, there was no call  in the US to change the constitution, and  the military did not influence the voting.\nThe biggest howler of all was the reference to Trump. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This commentator  said that after Trump lost, the US showed\ncharity and gave Trump the Presidential helicopter and  the Presidential Plane to go home in. The  writer \ncompared it with the treatment given to Sarath Fonseka by Mahinda\nRajapaksa .  This is nonsense. Donald\nTrump remained President of the United State of America until  the new President was appointed. It is in his\ncapacity as President  of the United\nStates that Trump used the official planes. NBC \nTV showed the plane arriving at Florida, \nrecording  Trump\u2019s last few\nmoments as President.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is advisable\nfor Sri Lanka to look at the larger picture when it comes to   world politics even if it may not impact directly\non the Bay of Bengal. Two new power blocs have emerged in the Middle East.  Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt on one side and\nTurkey, Iran, and Qatar on the other reported analysts.  These\nare  sort of pro and anti-US power blocs.\nThese rivalries are now bleeding  into\nthe Arabian Sea  said analysts. ”  Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE),\nTurkey, and Iran are active  in the\nArabian Sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran holds a\npivotal position in the Middle Eastern frontier.  If sanctions against Iran are relaxed, Iran\nwould play a much larger economic role in the oil trade. The recently concluded\nAbraham Pact between UAE, Israel and Bahrain backed by Saudi Arabia was\nintended to deter Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will not\nbe easy to deter Iran. In January 2021, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards test-fired\nlong-range ballistic missiles against targets in the Indian Ocean  in a two-day exercise .The missiles were fired from central Iran\nat targets located in the northern Indian Ocean and destroyed them from 1,800 kilometers\naway. The exercise also featured a drone attack on a missile defence system and\nthe launch of a  “new\ngeneration” surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. The launch showed Iran\nwas ready to respond to any “ill will” by its enemies, warning that in\nsuch cases “they will be targeted and destroyed by our missiles”.This\nwas a message to USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of these\ncountries, Iran and Saudi Arabia have a connection with Sri Lanka. That is why\nSri Lanka must watch events in the Arabian Sea. Saudi Arabia\nand the U.S. are strategic allies. Saudi\nArabia has links with  extremist \nMuslim  organizations in Sri\nLanka. Iran  and USA are enemies Iran has\nsupported the government of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\nBiden  clearly intends to  continue US policy of  opposing China.  Biden said \nChinese President Ji was a thug. China returned the compliment. As US\nPresident Biden took oath of office in Washington,  China sanctioned 28  US persons who  have “gravely interfered in China’s\ninternal affairs, undermined China’s interests, offended the Chinese people and\nseriously disrupted China-US relations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list\nincludes Mike Pompeo ,Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro, national security\nadvisor Robert O’Brien, assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs\nDavid Stilwell, health secretary Alex Azar and UN envoy Kelly Craft, Trump\nnational security advisor John Bolton and former senior advisor Steve Bannon. The\nofficials and their family members will be prohibited from entering mainland\nChina, Hong Kong and Macau, the foreign ministry said.   The companies and institutions associated\nwith them are also restricted from doing business with China,”  said China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also as Biden\nbecame President in US, China   sent\neight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets into Taiwan\u2019s  air space, followed by a further  15 including 12 fighter jets  the next day. China usually sent\nreconnaissance aircraft, this time China sent fighter jets and bombers. It was sending\na message to USA. USA responded. US replied that it  firmly supported Taiwan\u2019s independence  and would not budge from that position.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden   intends to continue  US policy of \u2018DOING ASIA\u201d and plans to do so,\nusing India. Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian Americans, including 13 women, to\nkey positions in his administration. This list is  of course led by Kamala Harris, the Vice President  of the USA. As many as 17 of them would be\npart of the powerful White House complex. This is something new for this small\nethnic community that constitutes one per cent of the country’s population,\nsaid the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other\nSouth Asians will also hold key positions. Pakistani-American Ali Zaidi as\nDeputy National Climate Advisor White House; Sri Lankan American, Rohini\nKosoglu as Domestic Policy Advisor to the Vice President and\nBangladeshi-American Zayn Siddique, Senior Advisor to the White House Deputy\nChief of Staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 However, former US Secretary of state, Henry\nKissinger, a very experienced official, thinks that US should not go to war\nagainst China because  if it does\nso,  US will lose. China has the military\ncapability to strike USA directly,  on\nland, bypassing ocean warfare.  US does\nnot have the military strength to fight China in the South China Sea, Bay of\nBengal  and  elsewhere, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA knows\nthis and plans to fight the  US-China war\nusing a coalition, the Quad, which includes the armies of USA, India Australia\nand Japan. But This  Quad may  dissolve before war starts. China is baiting\nboth countries. There is the Senkaku island issue with Japan. But  Australia and Japan can finally  be persuaded to leave the Quad and join China.\nThe Quad will  then become a Duo , India\nand USA.  China and Pakistan will  then simultaneously  attack India on its northern and western  borders. This will prevent India from\nparticipating in any war other than its own. USA will be left to fight alone.(Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The storming of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 has made a significant impact on the domestic politics of the USA. It is   seen as a possible sign of things to come. The Capitol attack was preceded by several other similar events. There was a white    supremacist rally, in Charlottesville, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}