{"id":89087,"date":"2013-05-29T10:40:04","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T05:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=89087"},"modified":"2013-06-02T00:16:09","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T18:46:09","slug":"cornering-sri-lanka-us-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cornering-sri-lanka-us-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Cornering Sri Lanka, US-Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

On May 22, 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was entered between the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy of the United States of America (USA) and the Trincomalee Urban Council (UC) at the Public Library of Trincomalee for the use of the UC premises for a period of five years.\u00a0 The facility, named \u2018American Corner\u2019 is purportedly for public information activity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The US Embassy<\/a><\/span> has already set up 2 such facilities, one in Kandy and another in Jaffna.\u00a0 The Ministry of External Affairs is yet to comment on the legality of these operations.\u00a0 If they have been sanctioned, then the public needs to know whether clearance has been obtained from the national security establishment given sensitivity and the track record of the USA in setting up of such \u2018non-military\u2019 bases and using them for espionage purposes.<\/p>\n

First and foremost the use of \u2018American\u2019 is a misnomer and one which indicates the \u2018empiric\u2019 aspirations of the USA, for \u2018America\u2019 refers to two continents, from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost point of North America.\u00a0 That\u2019s a \u2018cornering\u2019 of a different kind which too is not ideologically innocent.<\/p>\n

Secondly, if this is \u2018ok\u2019, it means that the USA can enter into Memoranda of Understanding with each of the 335 local authorities in the country.\u00a0 It means that all other countries which have diplomatic missions in Sri Lanka can follow suit.\u00a0 We will have a Saudi Arabia Corner in Kattankudy, a Russian Corner in Kolonnawa, a Cuban Corner in Boralesgamuwa and of course similar corners of these countries and others in all parts of the country.\u00a0 It will be practically impossible for the Government to check what they are up to.<\/p>\n

What is pernicious about this move is that the US Embassy has seen fit to bypass the Ministry of External Affairs.\u00a0 This is the \u2018we do as we want\u2019 face of the Ugly American.\u00a0 This is exactly what made people express horror about 9\/11 but add, \u2018you asked for it\u2019.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, if a relatively minor local authority like an Urban Council can \u2018pact\u2019 with a foreign government, what wouldn\u2019t a larger entity such as a Provincial Council do?\u00a0 Trincomalee is a sensitive district security-wise.\u00a0 Any foreign government doing any business (forget setting up a \u2018base\u2019 which can be used for electronic warfare, surveillance and such) is a threat to national security.\u00a0 The USA, moreover, is not exactly Sri Lanka\u2019s \u2018best friend\u2019 in the international community.\u00a0 This move is as much a security threat as that of giving Sampur over to India.<\/p>\n

In other words, if the 13th<\/sup> Amendment<\/a><\/span> is not repealed and a different arrangement instituted to ensure a louder voice for the citizen in regional development, with sufficient protections against abuse by spoiler forces (like the TNA<\/a><\/span>, which is calling for autonomy that includes financial deals with foreign governments), then we could very well have the USA (or anyone else) operating to destabilize the nation from within in ways that are more telling than the current method of surreptitiously conspiring with anti-Sri Lankan elements to affect regime-change.<\/p>\n

Let there be no illusions.\u00a0 The USA is dead-set on interfering in the internal affairs of this country.\u00a0 The USA tried to corner Sri Lanka in Geneva.\u00a0 The USA is now taking the metaphor into literary territory.\u00a0 We could very well have the USA and its allies in the European Union (who voted en bloc<\/em> against Sri Lanka in Geneva) setting up such \u2018corners\u2019 in all corners of the country.\u00a0 There won\u2019t be a corner left that can be called \u2018Sri Lanka\u2019.\u00a0 Or else, the Government will have to beg these powers for a \u2018corner\u2019 for Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

The USA is clearly cutting corners here, banking on the general goodwill of the people and the inefficiencies and\/or fears of relevant officials and politicians.\u00a0 These are civilian-looking \u2018Lily Pods\u2019 with multiple uses, both innocent and pernicious.\u00a0 The USA does not love Sri Lanka or Sri Lankans. That\u2019s fine.\u00a0 The Government, however, cannot shun its responsibilities to the people.<\/p>\n

These \u2018corners\u2019 must be kicked out.\u00a0 And fast.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":78746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms"],"yoast_head":"\nCornering Sri Lanka, US-Style - 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\/cornering-sri-lanka-us-style\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cornering Sri Lanka, US-Style - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cornering-sri-lanka-us-style\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-29T05:10:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-01T18:46:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Malinda-Seneviratne.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"923\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1112\" \/>\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\/cornering-sri-lanka-us-style\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/cornering-sri-lanka-us-style\/\",\"name\":\"Cornering Sri Lanka, US-Style - 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