{"id":2561,"date":"2011-12-11T10:11:05","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T10:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/?p=2561"},"modified":"2011-12-11T10:11:05","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T10:11:05","slug":"wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: Moragoda made a startling proposal to US against NAM"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Colombo Telegraph &#8211;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2562\" style=\"width: 342px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2562\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2562\" title=\"Milinda Moragoda Colombo Telegraph\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"332\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg 332w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 332px) 100vw, 332px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2562\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Re the U.S., the intelligent, articulate Moragoda is a perfect fit. Born in Washington, D.C, he is a dual national Amcit, married to an American, with plenty of Washington connections,<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u201cMore recently, Minister Moragoda made a startling proposal to U.S. officials. In discussions in Washington, Moragoda stated that the GSL was interested in forming some sort of group that would counter the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) block of countries.\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 analyses the Sri Lanka&#8217;s pro \u2013 US foreign policy under Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. The cable was written on May 29, 2003 by the US Ambassador to Colombo E. Ashley Wills.<\/p>\n<p>Ambassador Wills wrote \u201cMoragoda was a bit vague about his idea. He indicated, however, that the GSL &#8212; although a charter member of the group since its formation decades ago &#8212; felt that the NAM was too strident and too anti-U.S., and that greater practicality was now called for. The way forward is still being worked on, but once the idea is fleshed out further, the current thinking is that PM Wickremesinghe might announce some sort of formal proposal re a new grouping at the UN General Assembly this September.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRe the U.S., the intelligent, articulate Moragoda is a perfect fit. Born in Washington, D.C, he is a dual national Amcit (please protect) married to an American, with plenty of Washington connections, many from his days as a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation and at Harvard. A &#8220;big picture&#8221; person, Moragoda is also highly aware that the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world, and he feels that it is better that Sri Lanka recognize that fact and work within it.\u201d Wills further wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Below we give\u00a0the relevant part of the confidential cable;<\/p>\n<p>Related news to this cable;<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Permalink to WikiLeaks: \u201cRanil is a Yankee, like his uncle\u201d US cable\u00a0implies\" href=\"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/12\/05\/wikileaks-ranil-is-a-yankee-like-his-uncle-us-cable-implies\/\"><strong>WikiLeaks: \u201cRanil is a Yankee, like his uncle\u201d US cable\u00a0implies<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Permalink to WikiLeaks: GL a Pomme, Milinda a Yankee, US cable\u00a0contends\" href=\"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/12\/07\/wikileaks-gl-a-pomme-milinda-a-yankee-us-cable-contends\/\"><strong>WikiLeaks: GL a Pomme, Milinda a Yankee, US cable\u00a0contends<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Permalink to WikiLeaks: President Chandrika a Francophile, US cable\u00a0contends\" href=\"http:\/\/colombotelegraph.com\/2011\/12\/10\/wikileaks-president-chandrika-a-francophile-us-cable-contends\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">WikiLeaks: President Chandrika a Francophile, US cable\u00a0contends<\/a><\/strong><\/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...............Moragoda's direct focus has been on cultivating\nrelations with the U.S. and with India.  Re the U.S.,\nthe intelligent, articulate Moragoda is a perfect fit.\nBorn in Washington, D.C, he is a dual national Amcit\n(please protect) married to an American, with plenty of\nWashington connections, many from his days as a visiting\nfellow at the Heritage Foundation and at Harvard.  A\n\"big picture\" person, Moragoda is also highly aware that\nthe U.S. is the most powerful country in the world, and\nhe feels that it is better that Sri Lanka recognize that\nfact and work within it.\n\n<a id=\"par5\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2003\/05\/03COLOMBO909.html#par5\">\u00b6<\/a>5.  (C) (((Note:  Of late, the duo of Peiris and\nMoragoda have been joined by a new pro-U.S. player:  In\njust several months on the job, Ambassador Devinda\nSubasinghe, a U.S.-educated financier and close friend\nof the PM, has already made a mark in Washington.)))\n<a id=\"par7\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2003\/05\/03COLOMBO909.html#par7\">\u00b6<\/a>7.  (C) More recently, Minister Moragoda made a\nstartling proposal to U.S. officials.  In discussions in\nWashington, Moragoda stated that the GSL was interested\nin forming some sort of group that would counter the\nNon-Aligned Movement (NAM) block of countries.  Moragoda\nwas a bit vague about his idea.  He indicated, however,\nthat the GSL -- although a charter member of the group\nsince its formation decades ago -- felt that the NAM was\ntoo strident and too anti-U.S., and that greater\npracticality was now called for.  The way forward is\nstill being worked on, but once the idea is fleshed out\nfurther, the current thinking is that PM Wickremesinghe\nmight announce some sort of formal proposal re a new\ngrouping at the UN General Assembly this September.\nWILLS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,1,27],"tags":[1591,1139,1161,1592,1559,1561,1298,1263],"class_list":["post-2561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-news","category-wikileaks","tag-anti-u-s","tag-democracy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-non-aligned-movement","tag-pro-u-s-foreign-policy","tag-sri-lankan-foreign-policy","tag-sri-lankans-in-wikileaks","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: Moragoda made a startling proposal to US against NAM - 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\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: Moragoda made a startling proposal to US against NAM - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-11T10:11:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"332\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\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=\"4 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\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/\",\"name\":\"WikiLeaks: Moragoda made a startling proposal to US against NAM - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-11T10:11:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/de9e3c959e41894c80608bdddd0387b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-moragoda-made-a-startling-proposal-to-us-against-nam\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/milinda-moragoda-colombo-telegraph.jpg\",\"width\":\"332\",\"height\":\"500\",\"caption\":\"Re the U.S., the intelligent, articulate Moragoda is a perfect fit. 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