{"id":2399,"date":"2011-12-05T04:17:26","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T04:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=2399"},"modified":"2011-12-05T04:17:26","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T04:17:26","slug":"wikileaks-ranil-is-a-yankee-like-his-uncle-us-cable-implies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-ranil-is-a-yankee-like-his-uncle-us-cable-implies\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: &quot;Ranil is a Yankee, like his uncle&quot; US cable implies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Colombo Telegraph &#8211;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2402\" style=\"width: 192px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-jr-family-colombo-telegraph.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2402\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2402\" title=\"Ranil JR family - colombo telegraph\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-jr-family-colombo-telegraph.jpg?w=182\" alt=\"\" width=\"182\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-jr-family-colombo-telegraph.jpg 606w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/ranil-jr-family-colombo-telegraph-182x300.jpg 182w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 182px) 100vw, 182px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2402\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wickremesinghe&#039;s pro-U.S. views have been long-standing and are in part a function of family connections.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cSince coming to power in late 2001, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken steps to steer Sri Lankan foreign policy closer to the U.S. Wickremesinghe&#8217;s pro-U.S. views have been long-standing and are in part a function of family connections. His uncle, J.R. Jayewardene, for example, was Sri Lanka&#8217;s president from the late 1970s through the late 1980s, and maintained very close links with the U.S. (Note: In fact, Jayewardene was called &#8220;Yankee Dickey&#8221; by leftists for years.)\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d \u00a0analyses \u00a0the Sri Lanka&#8217;s foreign policy under \u00a0Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The cable written on May 29, 2003 by the US Ambassador to Colombo E. Ashley Wills.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Wills wrote \u201cMoreover, Wickremesinghe, who comes from a very wealthy busi.ness family, is a strong advocate of free enterprise and strongly opposed to the disastrous socialist policies of former governments. Wickremesinghe is also surprisingly knowledgeable about U.S. history and politics; he is an avid reader about the American Civil War, U.S. military history, and U.S. legislation. The prime minister&#8217;s pro-U.S. views also emerge out of his political calculus that Sri Lanka needs the support of the international community, especially the U.S., to constrain the Tamil Tigers. With the peace process his government&#8217;s number one priority bar none, the prime minister has worked hard to secure U.S. support for his efforts in this area from very early on in his tenure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Below we give\u00a0a part of the confidential cable;<\/p>\n<pre>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000909\n\nSIPDIS\n\nDEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA\/INS, S\/P, IO, INR\/NESA; NSC FOR E.\nMILLARD\n\nLONDON FOR POL\/RIEDEL\n\nE.O. 12958:  DECL:  05-29-13\nTAGS: <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PREL_0.html\">PREL<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PGOV_0.html\">PGOV<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PINR_0.html\">PINR<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/CE_0.html\">CE<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/UN_0.html\">UN<\/a>\nSUBJECT:  Sri Lanka's foreign policy:  Prime Minister\ntilts toward U.S., but faces resistance\n\nRefs:  Colombo 873, and previous\n\n(U) Classified by Ambassador E. Ashley Wills.\nReasons:  1.5 (b,d).\n\n<a id=\"par1\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2003\/05\/03COLOMBO909.html#par1\">\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) SUMMARY: Since coming to power, PM Wickremesinghe\nhas taken steps to steer Sri Lankan foreign policy\ncloser to the U.S.  In doing this, he has had successes,\nincluding the signing of an ICC waiver with the U.S. and\nin regard to Iraq where the GSL steered a constructive\ncourse.  Moreover, one of his key ministers recently\nproposed that the GSL take the lead in forming some sort\nof counterweight to NAM.  That said, the PM's initiative\nhas faced stiff resistance from MFA bureaucrats.  In\naddition, the president and Opposition, backed by much\nof the press and the intelligentsia, have cut into his\nroom for maneuver via their generally anti-U.S. biases.\n\n<a id=\"par2\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2003\/05\/03COLOMBO909.html#par2\">\u00b6<\/a>2.  (C) In the post-Iraq war environment, we think the\nGSL will continue to want to draw closer to the U.S.\nWith the PM facing a precarious cohabitation situation,\nhowever, additional steps toward the USG will have to be\ncarefully plotted out.  Nonetheless, with Sri Lanka\nfacing a difficult peace process and needing help to\nconstrain the Tamil Tigers, we think the larger trend in\nthe country provides ballast for the PM's pro-U.S.\nproclivities.  END SUMMARY.\n\n--------------------\nPM tilts toward U.S.\n--------------------\n\n<a id=\"par3\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2003\/05\/03COLOMBO909.html#par3\">\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) Since coming to power in late 2001, Prime\nMinister Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken steps to steer\nSri Lankan foreign policy closer to the U.S.\nWickremesinghe's pro-U.S. views have been long-standing\nand are in part a function of family connections.  His\nuncle, J.R. Jayewardene, for example, was Sri Lanka's\npresident from the late 1970s through the late 1980s,\nand maintained very close links with the U.S.\n(Note:  In fact, Jayewardene was called \"Yankee Dickey\"\nby leftists for years.)  Moreover, Wickremesinghe, who\ncomes from a very wealthy business family, is a strong\nadvocate of free enterprise and strongly opposed to the\ndisastrous socialist policies of former governments.\nWickremesinghe is also surprisingly knowledgeable about\nU.S. history and politics; he is an avid reader about\nthe American Civil War, U.S. military history, and U.S.\nlegislation.  The prime minister's pro-U.S. views also\nemerge out of his political calculus that Sri Lanka\nneeds the support of the international community,\nespecially the U.S., to constrain the Tamil Tigers.\nWith the peace process his government's number one\npriority bar none, the prime minister has worked hard to\nsecure U.S. support for his efforts in this area from\nvery early on in his tenure.\nWILLS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,1,27],"tags":[1161,1559,1560,1147,1561,1298,1562,1263],"class_list":["post-2399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-news","category-wikileaks","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-pro-u-s-foreign-policy","tag-ranil-wickremesinghe","tag-socialist","tag-sri-lankan-foreign-policy","tag-sri-lankans-in-wikileaks","tag-tamil-tigers","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>WikiLeaks: &quot;Ranil is a Yankee, like his uncle&quot; 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