![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/media-uprising-social_network-egypt-tunisia-mid_east-efin2096_low-300x221.jpg\")
The Web is mightier than the sword.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr. Jeanne Bramhall writing to GlobalResearch reviews a book by Ahmed Bensada titled Investigation into the US role in the Arab Uprisings\u201d. <\/strong>The review is interesting in the context of Sri Lanka\u2019s political scenario & offensive involvement of the Western diplomatic corps flouting all forms of diplomatic protocols & general decencies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to the review the book admits that people received CIA funding<\/strong>, some in Egypt & Syria have been charged with espionage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is interesting & relevant to Sri Lanka is that the author confirms that \u2018Democracy is America\u2019s biggest export\u2019 <\/strong>\u2013 he underlines 4 features that are common \u2013 all features relevant to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the book there is reference to a non-violent guru Gene Sharp<\/strong> \u2013 apparently this \u2018guru\u2019 has links to US intelligence, as director of the Albert Einstein Institution<\/strong> & assisted coloured revolutions in Eastern Europe & attempted 2002 coup against Hugo Chavez.<\/p>\n Sri Lankans have any of our NGOs being sent for similar training?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bensada has taken pains to source wikileak cables & websites of CIA-linked foundations & lists State Dept conference & workshops that the Arab Spring \u2018heroes\u2019 had attended, the dollars spent to \u2018promote democracy\u2019 as well as the involvement of Google, Facebook, Twitter in this exercise<\/strong>. Something that Sri Lanka should also do. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bensada takes readers to Egypt\u2019s Tahrir Square where the US-funded agitators began \u2018democracy promotion\u2019.<\/strong> He cites Washington Post as estimating 10,000 Egyptians taking part in NED & USAID training in social media & non-violent organizing techniques including the involvement of a former Egyptian policemen in exile coordinating from his office in US<\/strong>. Wikileaks claims the NED paid policemen Omar Suleiman a yearly stipend of $200,000+ between 2008-2011.<\/p>\n We have plenty of journo\u2019s in exile from Sri Lanka working to destabilize Sri Lanka too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Are we not justified in wondering how much is being paid to the sudden \u2018democracy\u2019 protestors in Sri Lanka all in favor of the party that the West wants to return to power?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bensada claims 11 key US assets engineered the overthrow of Gaddafi<\/strong> \u2013 they too had participated in State Dept trainings as Middle East opposition activists.<\/p>\n We would like to know who are the Sri Lankans who had been trained in non-violent protests & handling of Facebook & Twitter protests<\/strong> \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Bensada between 2005 & 2010 the State dept had funneled $12m to opposition groups to topple Assad of Syria<\/strong> as well as financing Syrian exiles in UK helping start an anti-Syrian cable tv channel that would beam into Syria & brainwash people.<\/p>\n He mentions Ausama Monajed who featured in a 2011 film & had been working closely with US embassy & funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative \u2013 a State Dept program operating in Libya & Syria as USAID was banned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The plan was simple \u2013 in 2011 February these trained groups used Twitter & Facebook to call for a Day of Rage.<\/strong> It didn\u2019t work. Not to worry they had Plan B. All it took was some calls to allies in Saudi, Turkey, Qatar & Jordan & hey presto came the Islamic mercenaries to declare war against Assad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bensada mentions Forum Fikra a forum for Arab activists which had been funded by Nathan & Esther K Wagner Family Foundation<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The take away from this is that these colour revolutions were all CIA-instigated uprisings to replace leaders with ones friendly to US corporate interests. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bulldozer Revolution in Serbia (2000),<\/p>\n Rose Revolution in Georgia (2002),<\/p>\n Orange Revolution in Ukraine (2004),<\/p>\n Tulip Revolution in Kyrgystan (2005) claimed to promote \u2018democracy\u2019 but they were only promoting capitalism.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bensada cites the entities that funded the Arab Springs \u2013 our question is simple are these the same entities funding Sri Lankans?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n USAID<\/strong> \u2013 a State Dept agency with a history of destabilizing countries<\/p>\n NED<\/strong> \u2013 supported by State Dept & CIA funded to promote \u2018democracy\u2019<\/p>\n IRI <\/strong>\u2013 International Republican Institute another democracy promoting agency funded by NED (linked to Republican Party)<\/p>\n NDI<\/strong> \u2013 National Democratic Institute for International Affairs \u2013 also funded by NED chaired by Madelaine Albright (linked to Democratic Party)<\/p>\n OSI<\/strong> \u2013 Open Society Institute funded by Soros in 1993 specifically for colored revolutions in Eastern Europe<\/p>\n Freedom House<\/strong> \u2013 supporting non-violent citizen initiatives, funded by USAID, NED, Soros<\/p>\n CANVAS<\/strong> \u2013 Centre for Applied Non Violent Action & Strategies \u2013 run by Serbian activists funded by Freedom House, IRI, OSI to overthrow Slobadan Milosevic, trained Arab Spring activists<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Do we need to ask who are the activists that have been similarly trained in Sri Lanka?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to F. William Engdahl of Princeton University,<\/strong> Sr\u0111a Popovi\u0107 & his organization CANVAS helped topple Serbian President Milosevic.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Popvic was also involved in Hungary to topple populist PM Victor Orban pretending to arrive in Hungry to promote his book but ended up giving aid to anti-Organ parties for the 2018 elections. Now we have to be skeptical about people launching books!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Engdahl says that Popovi\u0107<\/strong> gained notice after he founded the organization Otpor in 1998 in Belgrade. He was trained in methods of US regime-change by Gene Sharp founder of Albert Einstein Institute in US & by State dept soft coup specialists Richard Miles<\/strong> (US Ambassador) as well as other US intelligence operatives. Miles was instrumental in the CIA coup in Azerbaijan<\/strong> that brought US-friendly Aliyev to power in 1993. Miles also orchestrated the CIA coup in Georgia to bring US asset Mikheil Saakashvili to power.<\/p>\n So we again ask who have undergone soft coup regime change training in Sri Lanka?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to William Engdahl USAID a known CIA front had channeled Otpor MILLIONS of dollars through NGOs \u2013 NED, NDI, IRI, Soros\u2019 Open Society Institute to topple Milosevic<\/strong>, reconfirming all that Bensada had written in his book.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NED was a project of Ronald Reagan. Allen Weinstein co-founder of NED admitted to Washington Post a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA\u201d.<\/em><\/strong> What it means is that the foreign government funded NGOs are carrying out what CIA once did.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Michael Dobbs, investigative reporter for Washington Post, IRI had trained Popovic & other Otpor leaders at the Hilton Hotel in Budapest in October 1999.<\/strong> The training covered \u2013 how to organize a strike, how to communicate with symbols<\/strong> (ex: clenched fist became their logo) After the training 70,000 copies on non-violent resistance was distributed. Gene Sharp is mentioned by Bensada too! The Albert Einstein Institute teaches techniques to US government to conceal coup d\u2019etats under the guise of non-violence. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It all began with street uprisings \u2013 something Sri Lanka must watch out for. Were anyone in Sri Lanka trained by this institute?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was shown to be a spontaneous public rising against Milosevic was actually not spontaneous at all \u2013 behind the scenes were Western advisors, pollsters, consultants training thousands of opposition activists & helping organize a parallel vote count.<\/strong><\/p>\n Hmm this is very interesting & recalls the delay in preferential counting in Colombo District!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to William Engdah, Popovic & Otpor had received over $41m for their \u2018democracy-building\u2019 campaign in Serbia.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5000 cans of spray paint were given to student activists to scrawl anti-Milosevic graffiti on walls (all UNKNOWINGLY paid by US tax payers) <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After Otpor\u2019s success in 2000 \u2013 Popvic created CANVAS again mentioned by Bensada<\/strong> \u2013 the supposedly non-governmental non-profit organization is to \u2018educate pro-democracy activists around the world\u2019. The Green Revolution in Iran in 2009 however was a failure.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n CANVAS boasts of training pro-democracy activists in more than 50 countries <\/strong>including Ukraine, Georgia, Zimbabwe, Burma, Georgia, Eritrea, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Tunisia, Egpyt & Syria. Sri Lanka is also mentioned<\/strong> elsewhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How does Popovic, CANVAS connect to Sri Lanka you may wonder\u2026 here is how!!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Harvard Kennedy School online leadership program on Leading Non Violent Movements for Social Progress under curriculum mentions Sri Lanka & guess who a co-instructor of this program is Srdja Popovic (of Otpor & CANVAS)<\/p>\n The successes\u2014and failures\u2014of mass campaigns for change will also be explored, including the Serbian democracy movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s, as well as movements in Egypt, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Burma, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/HKSEE\/HKSEE%20Files\/LNM_Brochure.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Therefore, we need to find out who are the activists trained in Sri Lanka.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n William Engdah\u2019s article also covers US \u2018intelligence consultancy\u2019 Stratfor<\/strong>, claiming that to be a shadow CIA for corporate clients Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon & US Govt agencies<\/strong> including Dept of Homeland Security & Defense Intelligence Agency. Hacker Anonymous had released 5m emails from Stratfor in 2012 Popvic\u2019s CANVAS working as spy for Stratfor and Wikileaks revealed from the same email hacking that Goldman Sachs, Wall Street Bank was mysteriously funding CANVAS.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That Popvic delivered as per requirement is shown by the awards dished out to him \u2013 2011 Foreign Policy magazine puts him on \u2018Top 100 Global Thinkers\u2019 \u2013 what\u2019s big about being paid create a false public demand to overthrow an anti-West government?<\/p>\n 2012 \u2013 Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize \u2013 little said about this award<\/p>\n 2014 \u2013 World Economic Forum lists him as a Young Global Leader\u201d<\/p>\n 2017 \u2013 Elected Rector of University of St. Andrews in Scotland.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Looks like people who help West over throw anti-West government can go places!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What we can conclude is that the US has been involved in a big way in regime change in Sri Lanka assisted by other Western states & even India & Japan. In June 2015 the US called for proposals from NGOs for projects on Democracy, Human Rights & Rule of Law. Reconciliation\/Ethno-Religious projects were allocated $750,000, $1m was allocated for transparency, accountability & anti-corruption \u2013 who are the recipients of the funding because it is through their assistance & engaging their staff for various training that what Ahmed Bensada & William Engdahl describe will take shape in Sri Lanka if not happening already in miniature doses just to test the water & filter feedback to see what best option can be adopted to suit Sri Lankans & what is likely to work to deliver the desired results.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The only way that these strategies & tactics can be countered is to know all of the templates that have been adopted, to treat ALL NGOs & their programs & initiatives with caution & refuse to be part of protests that have NGOs & questionable characters linked to them. It is also good to watch out for sudden arrivals of Sri Lankans with a shopping list of \u2018what I will do if I come to power\u2019 or \u2018complaints & charges against those that the West wish to oust\u2019.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It would be good to note that the majority of people have no regard for any of the NGO heads these diplomatic corps are paying and that may be the reason that all tactics rolled out are not working so far.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We do not wish to be a pawn of any country. We want our nation to belong to us, we want to be able to elect the leaders we want on our terms, we don\u2019t want to be told who we should or should not vote for & we certainly do not like the present interferences & involvements of the diplomatic corps in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We are a nation of highly literate people \u2013 let us not allow our beautiful nation to be turned into a theatre of conflict for regional powers who wish to use Sri Lanka as a watch tower for their greater geopolitical games.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/cia-backed-color-revolutions\/5611641<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n