Collapse Of Lanka-US Relations 

By Gamini Weerakoon-Sunday, January 19, 2014

Ruthless pressure being imposed on Sri Lanka to kowtow to America and its Western cheer squad at Geneva was apparent during the recent visit of American Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice John Rapp. A cheap trick certainly unworthy of American diplomacy was used to strengthen unproven allegations  of war crimes against the Sri Lanka government during a visit of Rapp to Lanka’s north with the  American Ambassador in Colombo Michele J. Sison.

A picture on the embassy’s official account of Twitter showed St Anthony’s Grounds, which the ambassador visited. The caption read:  ‘St Anthony’s Ground was the site of the Jan 2009 killing of hundreds of families by army shelling. The Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice was quoted after the Twitter appeared that he now believed that the claim of 40,000 civilians being massacred was correct. No reason was given for this instant enlightenment.

Superpower farce

If this is the evidence that is to be produced at Geneva against Sri Lankans on war crimes, we can only resign ourselves to the enactment of a superpower farce at Geneva with the backing of a pliant ‘international community’.
There is nothing very much Sri Lanka can do now against this kind of propaganda – more  Goebbelsian than American – other than to find out the reasons for this determined onslaught by a country, which at one time was Sri Lanka’s best friend even in times of adversity.

Ambassador James Spain

It will be recalled that even after the 1983 riots, when there was a severe international backlash against Lanka and arms embargoes even by America were enforced, Sri Lanka received American assistance. We have pointed out in previous columns that an Israeli Interests Section was established in the Colombo American Embassy through which arms and military assistance in varied forms came in. President J. R. Jayewardene was hosted to a banquet by President Ronald Reagan and the two leaders established a very good relationship.

The American Ambassador at that time, James Spain was a diplomat who towered physically and intellectually over his contemporaries. His sincerity and commitment to good Lanka-US relations had him making friends with a wide spectrum of Sri Lankan society. He pointed out to this writer that in his time, Sri Lanka became the highest per capita recipient of American aid. The man loved this country so much that after retirement he preferred to live in Lanka rather than go back home and only when extremely ill did he go home.

Other than Ambassador Marion Creekmoore who succeeded him, the others who followed particularly the ladies who were more academically inclined and tended to take in the academic jargon formulated by Sri Lankan and foreign academics.

Diplomats and Diplomats

Can the deterioration of US-Sri Lankan relations be attributed hostile American diplomats and the Sri Lanka diplomats who followed illustrious Sri Lankans such as Ambassador Neville Kanekeratne? How did this State Department hostility to Sri Lanka build up? It is essential to determine the causes if diplomatic relations are to be on an even keel.

A valid reason could be the decision of Mahinda Rajapaksa, even before being elected, to take a hardline towards the LTTE. Soon after assuming power he abandoned the ‘peace process’ and did away with the 4 Co-Chairs who directed the peace process. He disproved the ‘unwinnable theory’ against a guerilla organisation much to the embarrassment of Western military and diplomatic pundits.
American and their allies were strongly against the ‘military option’.

Indian influence

Was it the ever growing Indian influence over America in South Asian Affairs? History shows that India always wanted to have influence over Tamils of the North and East and use them as levers in directing Sri Lankan policy.
Or was it the New Great Game played in the Indian and Pacific Oceans
by American, Chinese and Indian navies? Sri Lanka’s military and economic embrace of China is certainly not to the liking of Uncle Sam.

Has American foreign policy in the late 20th Century and the 21st Century adopted human rights as a foreign policy tool to make recalcitrant emerging countries like Sri Lanka dance to their tunes? America, which historically has been the global leader in the violation of human rights and is continuing to do so, now seems to be obsessed on enforcing human rights on specific countries?
A few or all these causes taken together may be reasons for this hostile obsession to punish Sri Lanka.

It will be in this country’s interest to determine the causes and come to terms with the superpower. Sri Lanka should certainly safeguard its sovereignty and self-respect but bashing of heads against a superpower rock is not the answer.