The U.S. Department of State compiled report on the conduct of the Sri Lanka’s execution of the military offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE/Tamil Tigers) released for public domain as an ‘unclassified’ version and sent to the U.S. Congress in form of a ‘classified’ document on Thursday, October 23 admits the data and information that were used to compile it was ‘unverifiable.’
It further adds that - nor does the report “reach conclusions concerning whether the alleged incidents detailed herein actually occurred.”
The report “does not reach legal conclusions as to whether the incidents described herein actually constitute violation of IHL (International Humanitarian Laws), crimes against humanity or other violations of international law.”
The report further ‘confesses’ that the “ U.S. government sources are unable to attribute the reported damage (shelling in the No Fire Zone) to either the Government of Sri Lanka or LTTE forces.”
The difficulties and limitations the State Department had when compiling the report to verify the facts, data and information that came its way, the report further states “Such limitations preclude the kind of testing and corroboration of evidence that would be necessary to evaluate whether the allegations presented are factually supported and/or would constitute violations of international law.”
To a question raised by the media at the State Department daily press briefing on 22 October (Thursday afternoon) spokesman Ian Kelly put it: “The report doesn’t attempt to verify all the claims, but we believe that the claims, which are based mostly on reporting by the Embassy, by international organizations on the ground out there, and by media and NGOs – we believe that they are credible."
Mr. Kelly reiterated, "But like I say, we don’t try and verify them"
The question then comes to any political observer, a student of politics, and to this Online Daily Newspaper and other media outlets or significantly to the Government of Sri Lanka is: If so, why did the State Department write this report and to satisfy whom?
A close scrutiny of the State Department’s 66-page report gives the reader full of contradictions, unsubstantiated data and information, and unverified events which the report itself says is hard to attribute to either the GSL or LTTE.
The report, on the whole, has not been able to fulfill the mandate given by the US Congress.
The report is submitted in pursuant to the Joint Explanatory Statement (of the US Congress) accompanying the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 111-32), which provides:
“The conferees direct the Secretary of State to submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations not later than 45 days after enactment of this act detailing incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka that may constitute violations of international humanitarian law or crimes against humanity, and, to the extent practicable, identifying the parties responsible.”
Mandated by the Appropriation Committees of the U.S. Congress the report on the conduct of the battle between the Sri Lanka government forces and the Tamil Tigers from January through May this year was prepared by the State Department’s Office of War Crimes Issues with the active participation and inputs from the South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau of the department headed by assistant secretary Robert Blake.
The report goes before the Senate Subcommittee on Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs of the Appropriations Committee. The Subcommittee is chaired by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy whose chief of staff, known for his close rapport with pro-LTTE professionals such as Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran, Dr. Elias Jeyarajah and Dr. Ranjithan, through his boss forced the State Department to do a report implicating the Government of Sri Lanka of war crimes, violation of humanitarian laws, human rights abuses and genocide.
It was this subcommittee that removed Sri Lanka from the list of eligible nations for the Millennium Challenge Grant, reduced economic assistance for the FYs ’07, 08, and ‘09 and cut military assistance which included foreign military sales (FMS).
The State Department even admitting in the report that it was not sure whether the incidents noted actually occurred as it had the difficulty in verifying the facts, data and information that came it’s way has failed to fulfill the requirement of the Congress other than producing a report with slanders, insinuations and aspersions using unsubstantiated media reports, interpretations of INGOs who are hostile to the Sri Lankan state, inputs from several conversations officials of the State Department had with some members of the US Tamil Diaspora who have pledged to adhere to LTTE agenda to insult, defame and diplomatically terrorize the sovereign Sri Lankan state.
Here are three quotes from the report:
(Begin Quote) (a) “This report compiles alleged incidents that transpired in the final stages of the war, which may constitute violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) or crimes against humanity and related harms. The report does not reach legal conclusions as to whether the incidents described herein actually constitute violations of IHL, crimes against humanity or other violations of international law. Nor does it reach conclusions concerning whether the alleged incidents detailed herein actually occurred.
(b) “Numerous commercial imagery-based reports issued by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations identified evidence of shelling in the NFZ. U.S. government sources are unable to attribute the reported damage to either the Government of Sri Lanka or LTTE forces. Sandy soil conditions in the NFZ and the emerging monsoon season resulting in increasing cloud cover further complicated efforts to monitor the conflict with commercial and USG sources.
© “Such limitations preclude the kind of testing and corroboration of evidence that would be necessary to evaluate whether the allegations presented are factually supported and/or would constitute violations of international law. Such legal analysis requires comprehensive and detailed information about the context of specific incidents that was unavailable here. For example, a determination about whether particular conduct would amount to a crime against humanity requires an assessment of the purpose and intent of government sponsored or sanctioned actions. In the context of civilian casualties, an analysis of whether particular military operations were conducted consistent with the laws of war would require an understanding of who committed the harms and the knowledge and intent of those actors when the operations were conducted, as well as information regarding whether apparently civilian persons were actually taking direct part in hostilities or civilian objects were being used to contribute effectively to military actions.” (End Quote)
But The Report Cites Th Law: “Crimes against humanity are certain offenses committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population with knowledge of the attack. Specific acts of crimes against humanity include murder; extermination; torture; rape; persecution; enforced disappearance; and other inhumane acts, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of that attack.”
Reminding its mandate the report says: “In accordance with further congressional direction, this report focuses on reports of alleged incidents and conduct which may constitute violations of IHL and/or crimes against humanity occurring during a period of especially intensive fighting, from January through May 2009. In the interest of creating a fuller picture of the circumstances of the conflict, the report also includes other related harms against civilians, including possible abuses of human rights.”
Has the State Department establish that the Sri Lankan state violated the above international law?
The report “does not reach legal conclusions as to whether the incidents described herein actually constitute violation of IHL (International Humanitarian Laws), crimes against humanity or other violations of international law.”
Three official investigations conducted last year and this year warned the State Department not to depend on ambiguous information to come to judgments.
The three official investigative documents, (1) Albright-Cohen Genocide Task Force Report of December 2008 (2) US Congress’ independent investigative office Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on May 2009 (3) GAO report of September 2009 revealed the serious shortfall of policy decisions taken at the highest level in the State Department in Washington based on ambiguous and frequently conflicting information and assessments provided by its overseas diplomatic missions who are ill-equipped in many areas; inadequate language proficiency, limited or no reach to peripheral districts to engage with civic leaders who are much knowledgeable of the ground situation than those who are based in the capital city, heavily depending on officials who have little or no knowledge of the mood of the population outside main cities especially in rural areas, untested junior FSOs holding critically important senior positions who make misjudgments on critical issues etc.
Judgments and recommendations at the State Department Washington level are heavily influenced by the report it gets from the overseas diplomatic posts. The final reports are shaped with the assistance of Washington-based officials of international NGOs, professionals and expatriate Diaspora who are most of the time equally ignorant of the ground situation in the country at issue or the issues surrounding the country.
The State Department report’s admittance of this ambiguous information for its Sri Lanka War Report is no exception.
It is with this clear understanding that the Albright-Cohen Task Force report highlighted: “When our diplomatic and intelligence reporting from the post is inadequate, analysts in Washington are left to make judgments from ambiguous and frequently conflicting information and assessments.”
Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale was equally knowledgeable of how U.S. overseas posts function when she declared in September “We cannot sit behind embassy walls and speak only to the people who agree with us. We have to engage, even when we disagree with others. We have to communicate-two-way communication, not one-way messaging-through both government-to-people dialogue and people-to-people dialogue.”
The Albright-Cohen Task Force quite rightly said “The availability of news reporting on even remote parts of the world has tempered the information problem significantly. Counterintuitively, how ever, the bounty of information-which can only be expected to grow in the future-does not necessarily ease the analytic challenge. First, the amount of material can be overwhelming, and second, it is hard to judge the accuracy of the reporting.”
Accuracy of the reporting can only be obtained with the wider reach to peripheral districts of countries the U.S. maintain diplomatic missions. The great danger is that Washington heavily depends on inadequate and ambiguous reporting from its overseas diplomatic posts that have little, less or no expertise and skills the three official documents elaborate. As a result, the reports warn, Washington arrives at wrong assessments, judgments and conclusions. The irony is that the U.S. Congress accepts these observations and judgments of the State Department as credible.
The three official investigations were undertaken to adequately warn the Congress which depends heavily on the State Department wisdom, and to recommend what action and necessary adjustments should be made to make the United States overseas operation more effective.
The issue under review now, the State Department report on Sri Lanka’s recent conducts of its counter-terrorism military campaign against the Tamil Tigers from January through May 2009, fits into the erudite judgments and conclusions of the three official reports mentioned above. There is no transparency. There is no credibility. The sources in whom the State Department officials depended supplied ambiguous, conflicting and contradictory information, data and resources. As a result the report manifested as an expression of a section of the United States government that was prepared to slander, defame and diplomatically terrorize an independent sovereign state which is prepared to work with the West but conscious of its ‘rapacious’ qualities.
The methodology used to compile the report the State Department states: “The State Department consulted a wide range of primary and secondary sources in gathering information for this report. These sources include internal USG reporting and subject matter experts, primarily from the State Department; foreign governments; international organizations; media reports; non-governmental organizations; and eyewitnesses. Information concerning the majority of incidents cited in this report originated in first-hand accounts communicated by persons from within the government-declared No Fire Zones (NFZs) and locations close to the fighting. Some organizations are identified by name if they have publicly released specific allegations while others, including foreign governments, UN agencies, and individual sources, are identified in more general terms to preserve confidentiality.”
The Office of War Crimes Issues and the South Asian Bureau of the State Department heavily depended on Foreign Service Officers (FSO) at Colombo’s American Embassy, locally operating and foreign-funded NGOs managed by Pakyasothy Saravanamuttu, Jehan Perera and Kumar Rupasingha, INGOs such as Human Rights Watch, media reports etc, to compile the report. And of course Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran would have been much helpful to Mr. Robert Blake.
The report itself indicates that the State Department was unsure how credible the information, data and reports that came its way.
A major investigative report – Genocide Prevention Task Force - co-authored by much respected former secretary of state Madeline Albright and former secretary of defense William Cohen released in December 2008 and now with the Obama administration for study noted: “When our diplomatic and intelligence reporting from the post is inadequate, analysts in Washington are left to make judgments from ambiguous and frequently conflicting information and assessments.”
The seriousness of the inadequacy of reporting and the political reports based on conflicting information and assessments from U.S. overseas diplomatic missions was candidly summarized by Hillary Clinton’s deputy in the state department Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale in a keynote address inaugurating Harvard Public Diplomacy Collaborative in September 2009 in the following manner:
“We cannot sit behind embassy walls and speak only to the people who agree with us. We have to engage, even when we disagree with others. We have to communicate-two-way communication, not one way messaging-through both government-to-people dialogue and people-to-people dialogue.”
Misinformation
Some of the contents of the report that outline the Context of the Conflict will undoubtedly mislead Senator Patrick Leahy’s Senate Committee. Some of the background material for the report is, at all times, in possession with the ‘so called experts’ of the State Department. But the official can make mischief with the data they are in possession incorporating half truths, misinterpretations and misinformation in reports that are forwarded for the consumption of US Senate committees such as Mr. Leahy’s.
In one statement the report says: “One of the earliest reported battles between the LTTE, which was formed in 1976 under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran, and government forces occurred in 1983, when the LTTE ambushed 13 GSL soldiers. This incident sparked anti-Tamil riots in which an estimated several hundred to several thousand Tamils were killed. The ensuing conflict, which occurred intermittently over the next 25 years, resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 Sri Lankans, both Sinhalese and Tamil, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more.”
The report makes mischief in not mentioning that there were no ethnic violence, or to be specific, that the Sinhalese never attacked the Tamils since that Black July day of 1983 despite there were numerous provocations by the LTTE in mass massacres of unarmed innocent Sinhalese villagers, brutal ethnic cleansing of Sinhalese from the northern districts, massacres of Buddhist monks close to 200 in one place of worship while they were in prayer and attacking their sacred Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, mass massacre of Sinhalese school children in many parts of the country and other attack on an ethnic community, the Sinhalese, who were remarkably maintaining its patience, tranquility and composer under serious provocative acts by the LTTE.
In another statement the report endeavor to convey to the US Congress this whole battle of twenty six years is nothing but a protracted war between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils while insinuating that the LTTE in fact represented the minority ethnic community and that Sri Lanka government is solely for the majority Sinhalese using the term ‘dominated by ethnic Sinhalese’ and mischievously remarking that the LTTE campaigned for a ‘homeland’ for the Tamils in the north and east of the country. In the foot note, these State Department ‘experts’ have distorted figures of the ethnic breakdown of Sri Lanka saying that the majority Sinhalese constitute 82% of the population.
Here’s that paragraph:
“The period covered by this report marked the culmination of a protracted armed conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL), which is dominated by ethnic Sinhalese, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist organization that campaigned for a homeland in northern and eastern Sri Lanka for the country’s minority Tamils. While relations between the two major ethnic groups have been marked by tensions since the country became independent in 1948, separatist violence emerged later.”
Then the report conveys to the Appropriation Committees of the Congress that, during the 25-year period, the GSL used paramilitary groups for extra-judicial killings and disappearances.
This is another blatant distortion of the State Department officials who were responsible for this report. It says: “During this 25-year period, the GSL and paramilitary groups allegedly aligned with the government were at various points accused of killings and disappearances, use of child soldiers, arbitrary arrests and detention, denial of fair public trial, and infringement of freedom of movement, all of which appeared to be disproportionately directed toward the Tamil minority.”
The only para-military group that had connections with the GSL was LTTE-breakaway Karuna Amman’s group, and that was since year 2006. There were no para-military associated with the Sri Lanka armed forces prior to that. Naturally, as any army of the world would have grabbed the chance the Sri Lanka army and its intelligent apparatus did not let the grand opportunity of getting the expertise, know how and classified information that the breakaway Karuna Amman faction possessed about the LTTE go, and that opportunity came after 2006.
The State Department report carries a visible contradiction about the bombing in the No Fire Zone.
This is what it says in one place: “Numerous commercial imagery-based reports issued by UN agencies and non-governmental organizations identified evidence of shelling in the NFZ. U.S. government sources are unable to attribute the reported damage to either the Government of Sri Lanka or LTTE forces. Sandy soil conditions in the NFZ and the emerging monsoon season resulting in increasing cloud cover further complicated efforts to monitor the conflict with commercial and USG sources.”
But it contradicts its own statement in this manner: During the reporting period, senior Sri Lankan officials made repeated public statements denying that the GSL was shelling the NFZ or targeting hospitals and was not responsible for any civilian casualties. However, sources alleged that the majority of shelling in the NFZ was from GSL forces. The GSL announced that it would observe a 48-hour ceasefire on two occasions. The stated aim of these was to allow civilians to move into areas in which they would not be subject to shelling. Incident reports suggest, however, that the GSL may have begun shelling before the end of the second 48-hour ceasefire.”
BBC Channel 4 Video
If the data, information and material are of ambiguous in nature or cannot be totally depended upon or conflicting or cannot come to any definite conclusion such resources are generally not used in a serious report done by serious persons. If the authors elect to use such material despite its ambiguous nature then the motive of authoring such a document for public domain or for specialized interest groups becomes obnoxious. When the motive is obnoxious the contents of the document helps a particular design the authors intend to achieve. It becomes slanderous, defamatory, insulting the intelligence of every erudite person around you and misleads the intended audience, in this case, the Appropriations Committees of the United States Congress.
The inclusion of the story of the BBC Channel Four video clip some individuals in military fatigues shooting unarmed persons described by the BBC as Sri Lanka soldiers in a summary execution of unarmed Tamil in the report epitomizes the objective and intention of the State Department: project the Sri Lanka administration as autocratic and brutal leaving no room for dissention; blatant violators of human rights committing mass atrocities.
To project the Sri Lankan state in that manner the report uses slanders, misinterpretations, misinformation and ambiguous information using cut-and-paste technique to draw the document using diplomatic terrorism.
When there was no definite answer to that BBC Channel Four video clip, and when the investigations to ascertain the truth of this video clip in inconclusive, and when there are many interpretations to the authenticity of the video clip the United States Department of State in its report on Sri Lanka mischievously incorporates a paragraph which says:
(Begin Quote) January – In late August an organization received a video clip from January which allegedly showed the summary execution of nine bound and naked Tamils by SLA soldiers. The video was supposedly filmed by a soldier present at the scene. Since the video’s release, the GSL has analyzed the clip and issued a statement identifying specific aspects of the video which it claims proved it to be forged. However, there has been no independent analysis of the footage. (End Quote)
Asian Tribune
Comments
Why Only on Sri Lanka?
This is very serious level allegation against the Sri Lankan government and also its people. USA is well known to the WAR CRIMINAL activities and had historical memories from Vietnam to Iraq and up to the Afghanistan. They have no right even to talk about human rights. They should clean their doorsteps before stepping to the neighbors. Sri Lanka was suffering from LTTE Tamil Terrorism for many years. Not only against the Sinhalese but also many innocent Tamils were the victims of that bloody war for last few decades. President Mahinda Rajapakse took very brave decision to fight back terrorism until he achieved his goal last May. So now what USA want? Book them for eliminating terrorism? What a disturbing situation for all peace loving folks around the world? Where should we go with so called TERRORISM ACT? What are the trust do they wants to develop around poor Asians. This is not fair!
US State Department has no moral right to accuse Sri Lanka
US State Department has no moral right to accuse Sri Lanka. Look at the details of the 7.2 million people displaced by their interference in the internal affairs of Iraq, Afghanistan & Pakistan. If the number displaced is 7.2 million, how many civilians have died by their brutal short sighted strategies?
• In Iraq, there were around 2.6 million internally displaced at the end of 2008, and 1.4 million had been uprooted over the past three years.
• One out of four refugees were from Afghanistan at 2.8 million
• Pakistan hosted the largest number of refugees in the world at 1.8 million
Source: CNN link: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/06/16/world.refugees.report/in...
As per Tamilnet:"In Page 46,
As per Tamilnet:
"In Page 46, inside a chapter on killings of combatants seeking to surrender, the Report said, "July 10 – A media outlet reported on July 18 that at a celebratory event in Ambalangoda, Army Chief General Sarath Fonseka stated that the military had to overlook the traditional rules of war and even kill LTTE rebels who came to surrender carrying white flags during the war against the LTTE,""
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The "media out let" being referred to here is LankaNewsWeb.
Its like Hitler quoting Goebbels.
LankaNewsWeb is paid for by the West.
It is run by Managla/his associates -same ones involved with Lankadissent.
LankaNewsWeb also ran the Fonseka2010 campaign
They made up this very news item, however attributed it to the Foreign Minster quoting the Army commander. Yet the US report could not even get a piece of propaganda they paid for and delivered by one of their hired stooges right. Speaks volumes of their competence.
No other media mentioned it, since no one in te Government said something as ridiculous as that. The Government also attacked the statement. (Is it no wonder journalist are one of the most loathed people and least respected profession in Sri Lanka? Filled with crooks and liars they complain no one takes them seriously so to boost their importance they claim they are attacked -most of which they do onto themselves).
Furthermore considering the climate Sri Lanka was in then and now, who honestly would say something like that? What a way to self-incriminate. Much like the Channel 4 video which has re-surfaced. Channel 4 are jumping up and down about it as well. Because their fellow clowns (Alston, Solheim and the US women at the UN) quoted it they say its all the "proof" they need that its real. The video being mentioned in the US "war crimes" report makes it real again .
Like i said its Hitler quoting Goebbels.
They cite "lack of independence" to ignore the excellent analysis of the video (including by the foremost expert in the field: Siri Hewawitharana) which proves it to be forgery, because the people who did the analysis were not white.
Its absolutely pathetic and smacks more than ever of their dishonesty in this whole process by claiming "killing of captives" and using the Channel 4 video. What a joke. The justification for inclusion of that forgery in the US "report" is that the investigation carried out by Sri Lanka into the video is not "independent" (reasons for which i have mentioned above). Hilarious really. They make the accusations, they provide the bogus "evidence" then they pass verdict. Whats even more comical is the fact they make allegations then say Sri Lanka is not doing anything to investigate said allegations and is thus guilty. When Sri Lanka does carry out an investigation they say its "not independent". More comedy in the EU report which "proves" their allegations are true on the sole basis that Sri Lanka has instigated and carried out investigations into the allegations they accuse us of. Basically Sri Lanka is automatically guilty because they so, if our own investigations prove otherwise then they are "not independent enough".
There is not a single shred of evidence to back up any of their ridiculous claims other than their own egos, arrogance and racism. The real intention behind all of this is to punish Sri Lanka for destroying their strategic asset in the region: The LTTE. And for defying them so bluntly when they begged us to save it (they even told the LTTE to create a human shield and slaughter it to create conditions necessary for them to intervene and save them –hence the certainty of a "blood bath" luckily Sri Lanka did not allow that happen, much to the Wests fury and frustration).
Whats funny what the US report are their concluding remarks about their own report:
"The report doesn’t attempt to verify all the claims, but we believe that the claims, which are based mostly on reporting by the Embassy, by international organizations on the ground out there, and by media and NGOs – we believe that they are credible."
Makes you wonder why they bothered in the first place, of course we all know that reason.
US War Report
This is like pot calling kettle black. All the atrocities US has done in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to tell Sri Lanka has acted against humanitarian law. What is this humanitarian law US is talking about. US were unable to become a signatory to International Court of Justice, but harp about bringing various world leaders in front of it. For a change why do not they bring Mr. Bush who has done a yeoman of criminal acts against civilians? When civilians get killed it was all collateral damage.
Then when Israel does any act of unpropotional force, it is justified as they have a right of self defense. But Sri Lanka has not right for self defense in this report. All the western nations who got sucked to give political asylum for undesirable people now have to dance to their likings because of political franchise. Most of the Western leaders do not know that such affiliations are only short lived. Tamil Diaspora living abroad is not the bad thing. We should help them to settle down and do well, but not to help them to create mayhem in their motherland. They should help the not so fortunate people in the east to get on with their lives by helping them to achieve their economic dreams without disrupting their lively hood.
I could remember a small incident during my days in Colombo. I have protected few dozen Tamil people of any harm and also protected their property during those unfortunate days of 1983 created by LTTE ambush on Sri Lankan soldiers. However, when most of the Western nations mislead by LTTE propaganda started accommodating Tamil people as refugees some of the Tamil people who were given protection started blaming me for doing so. They were of the opinion that if they were allowed to be harmed they could have found their way to a western land!!!!!
I cannot believe how former US Ambassador behave this way. He seems to be having some personnel grudge on the current Sri Lankan leadership. He is behaving as one of the Norwegians trying to divide Sri Lanka at any cost. All those bogus peace agreements have caused the Tamils more grief than peace.
Tamils "influencing" the West? No, not really.
I must disagree with the notion (as put forward by Raju) that Tamils are "influencing" these "innocent" politicians in the West. PLEASE. They are not naive uncorrupted soft little beings taken for a ride by some "evil" Tamils in the West. They are big enough and mature enough to see all sides of a story and choose which ever side best suits them and their interests. With regards to Sri Lanka, Sinhala Buddhists cannot be trusted, refuse to bow down to them and do not possess a collective nor united mindset which is both a weakness and a strength. A simple flick through the passages and volumes of writings, minutes, policy discussions and decisions from 1505 on wards made by European conquerors and occupiers will show that after careful analysis and investigations they were fully aware of the mind set and loyalties of the Sinhala Buddhists Vs the Tamils/South Indians (as well as every other people they conquered and lands they set foot on).
They are also fully aware of what has transpired since Independence and that they and the tools they used to suppress the Sinhala Buddhists are the root of friction between the two peoples (and much to their happiness that their tactics and polices still provide results). All those high paid professionals and intellectual geniuses working for organisations like International Institute for Strategic Studies, various University think tanks, other think tanks and importantly Foreign Ministries etc are there to provide details and plans on how to best exploit countries and peoples in which the end result strengthens, ensures and furthers Western interests -political and economic. They formulate policy and directions needed to fulfil these aspirations and varnish them up with whatever excuses necessary. (You can compare this to the way the SL Foreign Ministry and other vital institutions are run).
Furthermore, Tamil violence and separatism is not directed at them, it is not a threat to them and in truth benefits them (a good example of this is the shutting down of Tamil credit card scams. As this involved robbing non-Tamils who were not giving cash willingly you saw law enforcement in Western countries cracking down on it).
So they choose to go along with Tamil tales of woe. If it was bad for them then they'd "side" with Sinhalese, and you'd see a flip in their reporting, thinking and attitude towards us. However that is highly unlikely for reasons i have already stated and history itself.
LTTE Influence
“I must disagree with the notion (as put forward by Raju) that Tamils are "influencing" these "innocent" politicians in the West. PLEASE. They are not naive uncorrupted soft little beings taken for a ride by some "evil" Tamils in the West.
You may wish to disagree, but that is the fact. You know the cigar politics of Bill Clinton. You may also know all the different governors running after mistresses. Then you know any US Senator can be invited for a meal at your own residence for a fee. If a person like George Bush can lead the most powerful nation to destruction, where are the brains of these so called politicians? Every thing is done on propaganda. The media is so powerful that they can sell virtually anything to the unsuspecting person. People like Raj Rajaratnam can make such huge amounts of money not because they are stupid, but they are hell bent to disregard the norms of law.
However, you guys were not so friendly towards the western politicians during the last phases of the war for not taking a stand favorable to you. It is the vast collection of LTTE which has now changed the opinion of most of these people. You know any journalist or media could be bought for money. You are famous of planting stories all over the map. However, the truth should prevail at some point. You know the so called suffering of Tamil people is not true. We the Tamils have held very prestigious position in full spectrum of Sri Lanka. You go by any Tamil who has come over to the west who will brag about his achievement in Sri lanka professionally and economically. Mind you with your hatred mind set, you better not be part of Sri Lanka landscape. Allow reasonable human beings to live in peace and harmony without bringing your dogmas to Sri Lanka.
With all the bomb blasts silenced, Sri Lanka is enjoying relative peace. The mayhem LTTE created cannot be accounted for by ordinary means. Look at Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. No one is spared with the bomb blasts taking place daily. Now we have got a chance to work good politics and create a country for benefit for all. But the evil politics of 30 years have to be erased first. It takes time to erase the spoils of war on both sides. 5 months is only less than 1% of the time lapsed in this dirty war?
Blakes problem is the way GR treated him
Blakes problem is the way GR treated him, like the useless third rate operative who's agenda was more than obvious to the stray dogs on the streets and managed to fail miserably. Also furious with the "criminal level" of defiance MR showed the pigment deficient masters!
No red carpet treatment, very damaging for the ego.