{"id":93021,"date":"2019-09-15T14:57:48","date_gmt":"2019-09-15T21:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=93021"},"modified":"2019-09-15T14:57:48","modified_gmt":"2019-09-15T21:57:48","slug":"when-does-a-gift-horse-become-a-trojan-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/09\/15\/when-does-a-gift-horse-become-a-trojan-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"When Does a Gift Horse Become a Trojan Horse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sarojini Dutt<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Jenner Edelman, the\nnew Country Director of the controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation\n(MCC), had egg on her face when she was caught red-handed dishing-out fake news\nduring a series of public presentations in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MCC had acquired\na malevolent reputation in Sri Lanka and the US was hellbent on whitewashing\nthat image. Edelman embarked on a laundering campaign conducting a series of\npublic presentations and artfully placed newspaper articles scripted by large US\nCorporate-funded organisations like Advocata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Razeen Sally, a\nmember of a secret and subversive organisation – The Mont Pelerin Society that\nis dedicated to destroying universal franchise and democracy -dutifully sang\nfor his supper as instructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, anger\nagainst the MCC  has been  snowballing and the Sri Lankan people\nare now demanding that any Presidential hopeful seeking their vote should\npublicly affirm before a Maha Sangha Council that he\/she would not sign the MCC\nAgreement or any other similar Agreement, and that if such agreements, laws or\nTreaties have already been signed he\/she would repeal such Agreements, Laws and\nTreaties when elected to office; furthermore, the people are demanding that the\nPresidential hopefuls make this the foremost statement, unambiguously, in their\nManifesto. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears that the\nobjective of Edelman\u2019s programme, besides whitewashing the MCC, is to take the\nMCC off the political agenda at the forthcoming Election campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Edelman was\ncaught out being untruthful and metaphorically with her pants down, critics\nwere quick to pounce on her ham-handed deception, pithily describing her\nconduct as America\u2019s \u2018Millennium-Gate\u2019 scandal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many in Sri Lanka\nhave accused the MCC of subversion and of spearheading an alleged US military\nthrust into Sri Lanka; this campaign, people say, is in consonance with\nAmerica\u2019s much trumpeted, and bi-partisan, foreign policy doctrine of\n\u2018Pivoting-to-Asia\u2019 pronounced officially by Obama in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all their\npresentations and contrived newspaper articles, Edelman and her assistant\nprojected the MCC as an altruistic organisation, playing \u2018Santa-Claus\u2019 to the\nmost poverty-stricken countries of the world and, making the poor in those\ncountries rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edelman went on to\nsuggest that the MCC was created by Washington as a philanthropic arm of the US\nand not a tool of US foreign policy; she said that if Sri Lanka is not\ninterested in America\u2019s benefaction, the US would take their \u2018gift\u2019 to a more\nappreciative and grateful country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that,\nEdelman in the next breath did a positional pirouette;  rather sternly,\nshe said, We are determined that Sri Lanka shall accept our \u2018gift\u2019; we shall\nsign the agreement before 17 Sep 19; if the people do not like it, the\nPresident, they elect, can annul the Compact at that time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edelman then went on\nto say, The MCC has been maligned by much fake news. There are no electrified\nrailway lines and there is no special economic Corridor running from Colombo to\nTrincomalee; everything being done by the MCC is what the Sri Lanka Government\nwants\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At this point, a member of the audience got up; he\nfumbled through a wad of documents and, selecting one, he addressed Edelman,\nThis document is not a spurious one; this document was produced by the MCC and\nwas distributed by the MCC team leader Steve, at a meeting at Temple Trees, in\nSeptember 2018, to all attendees that included legal officers from various\nbanks and the President of the Bar Association, U R L De Silva.\u201d This member of\nthe audience then proceeded to show the first page of the document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Turning towards the\naudience, this person then went on to show another of the pages from the\ndocument in hand, a page that had a Map. This writer has\nenlarged that map for greater clarity <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the lettering just\nabove the map indicates, the map is a visual representation of the spatial\nstructure of Sri Lanka in 2050, as perceived by the MCC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edelman was clearly\nupset and she mumbled feebly that Steve had erroneously shown the wrong map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to what\nEdelman said, there is an electrified railway line running from Trincomalee to\nColombo; see the map-legend on the right side of the map; it indicates\n\u2018proposed electrified railway line\u2019. The protective electric fences on either\nside of the railway line would be the electric border between the North and the\nSouth of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, contrary to\nwhat Edelman said, the Corridor between Trinco and Colombo is one of the focus\nareas for land investment selected by the MCC; it has been chosen by the MCC\nfor maximum economic impact, as indicated in the MCC document above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 7 districts\nalong this Corridor, the Edelman team admitted that there are 10 Land\nRegistries; the GOSL has authorised the Americans to go into these Land\nRegistries where documents pertaining to Sri Lanka\u2019s sensitive and precious\nLand-Assets are stored and secured; this, even before any Agreement has been\nreached. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, from all\naccounts received, there are Americans seen crawling out from all crannies and\ncrevices in the Land Registry and Survey department buildings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commissioner General\nof Lands is no doubt aware of the principle of law applied at the Nuremburg\nTrials; he is required to comply with only lawful orders; failure to do so\nwould make him equally liable before the law. Perhaps, the Surveyor General,\nthe Land Title Commissioner, the Government Chief Valuer, officials involved\nwith digitalising land documents and other Government Officers thrust with\nresponsibility should bear this in mind and consider themselves, to have been\nput on notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In that same MCC Map above, to the South East of\nPolonnaruwa where the MCC have projected an International airport, there is a\ndistinct encirclement of an area bounded by Vallachenai, Kattankudi,\nBatticaloa, Sainthamaruthu, Kalmunai, Amparai, Moneragala, Badulla and\nHingurakgoda.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this area is,\nwhere the \u2018Muslim University\u2019 has been constructed, where investigators have\nidentified the heartland of Sri Lanka\u2019s Caliphate terrorists, where the US\narmy, from the US Indo-Pacific Command, has built barracks that could\naccommodate a Division of US troops, where 20 Caliphate terrorists committed\nsuicide following the Easter massacre, where investigators have identified the\nhome-base of terrorist Zaharan and where the meeting between Hizbullah and\nTeplitz took place, just two days prior to the Easter slaughter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quite suspiciously, while Sri Lanka was yet in\ndeep shock the MCC Board in Washington, just two days after the Easter\nmassacre, unilaterally approved the MCC compact although there is much\nopposition to it from the Sri Lankan public (on the grounds that they have been\ndeliberately kept in the dark about the details of the Agreement). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

and, the matter not\neven discussed in Parliament; the \u2018gift\u2019 had been upped from 420M to 48OM USD\nby an organisation adjudged the most transparent in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Matara-Spyhole\u2019,\nSamarawickrema and Teplitz announced the details of the \u2018gift\u2019 gleefully to a\nNation numbed by shock and horror; it is a silver lining was their message and\na \u2018gift\u2019 that must be taken immediately, lest the Americans withdraw the\n\u2018gift\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would appear that\nthe Americans are using the Easter killings to force us to accept their \u2018gift\u2019.\nThat, is food for thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An untruthful Edelman said that this \u2018gift\u2019, has\nno attached conditions, it is an outright grant and does not have to be repaid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard Gunathilaka\nof Pathfinders, of the same ilk as Prasad Kariyawasam the willing servant of\nthe US, said Do not look a gift horse in the mouth\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was it Sri Lanka\u2019s\nmisfortune that these two persons had to be in the Foreign Ministry and head it\ntoo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When does a gift\nhorse become a Trojan horse? It is when the gift horse is given with attached\nconditions; it is when an Agreement has to be signed, to receive a \u2018gift\u2019. The\n\u2018conditions\u2019 laid down by the MCC for Sri Lanka to comply with, become the\nprice Sri Lanka has to pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When payments are\nmade by the receiver of the \u2018gift\u2019, the money touted as an outright grant,\nceases to be a grant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the type of\nmodus operandi that was adopted by the travelling snake-oil-salesmen of the\nwild-west to dupe the people in America; MCC, Teplitz and Edelman have\ntravelled a long way to Sri Lanka to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the case of\nthe MCC Compact, Sri Lanka would be making  an eternal payment to the\ndonor of the \u2018gift\u2019 horse; Sri Lanka by complying with the conditions laid down\nwould be gifting the Americans, the donor of the \u2018gift\u2019 horse, the entire\ncountry for ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\/ to be contd <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sarojini Dutt Jenner Edelman, the new Country Director of the controversial Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), had egg on her face when she was caught red-handed dishing-out fake news during a series of public presentations in Sri Lanka. The MCC had acquired a malevolent reputation in Sri Lanka and the US was hellbent on whitewashing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93021","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=93021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}