{"id":159185,"date":"2016-03-14T03:40:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T22:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=159185"},"modified":"2016-03-18T23:59:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-18T18:29:16","slug":"gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Michael+Roberts&amp;x=9&amp;y=6\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Michael Roberts<\/span><\/a> &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_101329\" style=\"width: 115px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/confronting-charlie-ponnadurai-clarifying-the-context-of-disparaging-ethnic-epithets-in-sri-lanka-over-the-last-180-years\/michael-roberts-7\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-101329\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-101329\" class=\"size-full wp-image-101329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg\" alt=\"Dr. Michael Roberts\" width=\"105\" height=\"116\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-101329\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Michael Roberts<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-listening-in-on-kps-chats-with-prabhakarans-man-friday\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies<\/span><\/a> \u2013 Part III<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During the telephone conversation with former Defence Secretary, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Gotabaya+Rajapaksa&amp;x=7&amp;y=8\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>, on Monday 7th March a tangential path developed towards the end of the session: namely, USA\u2019s striking shift of emphasis and increasing hostility to the government of Sri Lanka at some point in 2008. Gotabaya Rajapaksa agreed with my allusion to this change. The information below does not follow the sequence of my notes, but adheres to a temporal order.<\/p>\n<p>Gotabaya affirmed that USA and its Ambassador <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Robert+Blake&amp;x=8&amp;y=3\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Robert Blake<\/span><\/a> were extremely friendly towards the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government at the outset. Quite early in the day Blake asked GSL to sign a \u201cCross Services Agreement\u201d relating to the hosting of visiting warships in the respective ports of Sri Lankan and USA (obviously a one-sided weightage in frequency). Blake said: \u201cthis is nothing really; but it will show that we are behind you.\u201d Ranil Wickremesinghe had refused earlier to sign this pact, but Mahinda Rajapaksa asked Nimal Siripala to get cabinet approval and the agreement was consummated (note Gamage 2007).<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-gota-to-provide-mercenaries-to-afghan-war\/gota-blake-colombo-telegraph\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-496\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-496 \" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/gota-blake-colombo-telegraph.jpg\" alt=\"contributing forces for combat operations right now would be too politically sensitive during the current election season in Sri Lanka.\" width=\"640\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/gota-blake-colombo-telegraph.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/gota-blake-colombo-telegraph-300x120.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thus \u201cat the early stages of the war\u201d USA was \u201cvery supportive\u201d towards Sri Lanka\u2019s policies. Once Blake even told Gotabaya: You know, I am the spokesman for your government. At that seminar in Singapore [no details were provided] I spoke in glowing terms about the high-tech companies that have invested in Sri Lanka and argued for others to follow suit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again, on one occasion, Blake \u201ceven asked me if we wanted help to kill Prabhakaran.\u201d I said \u201cYes.\u201d That line of operation was not pursued it seems. However, USA had assisted Sri Lanka in securing radar and weaponry at certain points;[1] while helping with satellite coordinates in hunting down the LTTE\u2019s rogue warehouse ships in 2007.[2]<\/p>\n<p>So, inevitably, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and this writer confronted the question \u201cWHAT CHANGED?\u201d Gotabaya\u2019s answer: \u201cwith the Obama administration there was a big turn.\u201d In his view this shift was due less to Hilary Clinton than to Samantha Power and Susan Rice. Power\u2019s office, he stressed, was next to Obama\u2019s and she was able to sway both the President and his wife Michelle. Power was a champion of RtoP interventions in vigorous mode. Moreover, he said, the Tamil diaspora in the Americas were active in lobbying well-placed champions human rights as well as US politicians.[3] Though he did not elaborate on these opinions, the implication was that the Obama administration was converted towards an interventionist policy in Sri Lanka that favoured the Sri Lankan Tamil peoples.[4]<\/p>\n<p>That this significant issue was not explored in further depth was\/is my fault: I was running out of steam (and time) \u2026 and a reference to KP\u2019s tel-conversations with the Tiger command diverted me towards that topic because it is central to an article I am finalizing.<\/p>\n<p>SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY<\/p>\n<p>Richard A. Boucher, 2008 \u201cU.S.-Sri Lanka Relations,\u201d 3 August 2008, http:\/\/2001-2009.state.gov\/ p\/sca\/rls\/2008\/107655.htm \u2026. Also at athttps:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/08\/richard-boucher-in-press-q-and-a-at-saarc-meeting-in-lanka-3-august-2008\/<\/p>\n<p>Mark Bowden 1999 Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, Signet Books.<\/p>\n<p>Daya Gamage 2007 \u201cMilitary Agreement between United States and Sri Lanka Could be politically tricky,\u201d 22 March 2007, http:\/\/www.asiantribune.com\/index.php?q=node\/5019<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2014 \u201cWinning the War: Evaluating the Impact of API WENUWEN API,\u201d 1 Sept. 2014, https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2014\/09\/01\/winning-the-war-evaluating-the-impact-of-api-wenuwen-ap\/<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2014 Tamil Person and State. Essays, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2014 Tamil Person and State. Pictorial, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2015 \u201cTargeting Sri Lanka by playing ball with Tamil Extremism,\u201d 24 July 2015, https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/wpadmin\/post.php?post=17127&amp;action=edit&amp;postpost=v2<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2015\u201cAmbassador Blake in Never-Never-Land: Misreading LTTE Capacity in Early 2009,\u201d 26 August 2015, https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2015\/08\/26\/ambassador-blake-in-never-never-land-misreading-ltte-capacity-in-early-2009\/<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2015 \u201cAmerican Action and Inaction on Sri Lanka, 2008\/09: A Critical Evaluation,\u201d 15 September 2015, https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2015\/09\/15\/american-action-and-inaction-on-sri-lanka-200809-a-critical-evaluation\/#more-17725<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2015 \u201cThe Realities of Eelam War IV,\u201d 27 October 2015, https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2015\/10\/27\/the-realities-of-eelam-war-iv\/<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2016 \u201cSpeaking to Gotabaya, I: Plans Afoot in 2009 to Rescue the Tiger Leadership,\u201d 8 March 2016, https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/08\/speaking-to-gotabaya-i-plans-afoot-in-2009-to-rescue-the-tiger-leadership\/#more-20092<\/p>\n<p>Michael Roberts 2016 \u201cSpeaking to Gotabaya-II: Listening in on KP\u2019s Chats with Prabhakaran\u2019s \u2018Man Friday\u2019,\u201d 8 March 2016,\u00a0https:\/\/thuppahi.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/08\/speaking-to-gotabaya-ii-listening-in-on-kps-chats-with-prabhakarans-man-friday\/#more-20103<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Wertheim, 2010 \u201cA Solution from Hell: The United States and the Rise of Humanitarian Interventionism, 1991\u20132003,\u201d Journal of Genocide Research 2010, Vol 12, No. 3, pp. 149-72. \u2026http:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/14623528.2010.522053<\/p>\n<p><strong>FOOTNOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] During a convivial chat at a friend\u2019s house with Commodore Karannagoda of the SL Navy in May 2015 Karannagoda informed me that Blake helped the Navy to secure Bushmaster cannons and to upgrade its radar monitoring towers and equipment. He was opposed to any criticism of Robert Blake.<\/p>\n<p>[2] I did not press Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he mentioned \u2013 more or less in passing. &#8212; the USA\u2019s help re satellite coordinates. However, my information from a senior naval officer is that the SL Navy worked out where along the equatorial line the LTTE marshalled its trawler fleet for transfer of goods from the warehouse ships. The first naval strike expedition deep into the Indian Ocean was a major leap forward \u2013 undertaken with great secrecy and, as it happened, with great success. My source insisted that there was no US aid of consequence during this first strike. Subsequently the US Command was more helpful.<\/p>\n<p>[3] A well-placed friend in one of the eastern Cities of USA sent me this note: \u201cTamil diaspora groups like USTPAC have spent money in hiring leading lobby groups like Podesta to influence Congress personnel while also devoting enormous efforts in time to influence the US State Dept, media, think tanks etc and in these ways brought pressure to bear on all arms of the US govt.<\/p>\n<p>[4] Also see Michael Roberts 2015 \u201cAmerican Action and Inaction on Sri Lanka, 2008\/09: A Critical Evaluation,\u201d and some of the other references in the Bibliography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":101329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008 - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008 - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-13T22:10:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-18T18:29:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"105\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"116\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/\",\"name\":\"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008 - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-13T22:10:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-18T18:29:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg\",\"width\":\"105\",\"height\":\"116\",\"caption\":\"Dr. Michael Roberts\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008 - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008 - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2016-03-13T22:10:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-18T18:29:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":105,"height":116,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/","name":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008 - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-13T22:10:35+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-18T18:29:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg","width":"105","height":"116","caption":"Dr. Michael Roberts"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/gotabaya-rajapaksa-clarifies-american-volte-face-in-2008\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gotabaya Rajapaksa Clarifies; American Volte-Face In 2008"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Michael-Roberts.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159188,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159185\/revisions\/159188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}