War crimes in Gaza war crimes in Sri Lanka

By Saybhan Samat

(October 30, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is indeed a bizarre state of affairs when the US secretary of State Hilary Clinton accuses the Sri Lankan military forces of war crimes and remains passive and silent and makes every effort to prevent the Israelis from being hauled before the International Criminals Court for war crimes in Gaza, such attitudes and actions have incensed the people of the world and hatred for the Obama administration grows by the day. All the Obama euphoria has evaporated and in Afghanistan a creeping Vietnam syndrome is gathering with Pakistan becoming slippery and Iraq again sliding into anarchy. Despite the war on terror, the US and its allies have not succeeded, in fact terror has grown and is growing.

Sri Lanka is the only country in the world that has put down terror. We expected plaudits and cheers for this success, but the US and its allies are openly down playing the victory with inane charges of rape, war-crimes and abuse of human-rights. Now the Sri Lankans can clearly see the unmasked face of the ugly American clearly.

Coming back to Israel the great friend of the US despite irrefutable evidence, Israel rulers, civilians and military-stubbornly maintain they have done nothing wrong and the Palestinians are to blame for whatever misfortune has befallen them. A series of reports have confirmed that war crimes were committed in Gaza. If there are war crimes there must be war criminals, and they must be accountable and punished as Gordon Levy wrote in the Israeli daily

“ Ha’aretz” “ This is the harsh conclusion to be drawn from the detailed United Nations report” produced by Justice Richard Goldstone of South Africa.

Justice Goldstone is a Jew and a self-confessed Zionist and supporter of Israel, hence he cannot be accused of anti-Semitism, a standard allegation hurled by Israelis at anyone criticizing their murderous ways. Every report on Gaza has given identical details: prolonged and illegal siege; illegal use of white phosphorous on civilian population, deliberate targeting and killing of innocent civilians; destruction of infra-structure- homes, schools and hospitals. These constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity as enunciated in the International Humanitarian Law. Apart from the UN report the whole worlds saw it in their television screens and were horrified at the cruelty of the Israelites.

There is no escaping the fact that the Zionist rulers are war criminals and those in the US and its allies that support Israel are accessories to war crimes. Let us name names Israel and others: Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak, Gabi Ashkenazi, George Bush, Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown and the rest of rulers of the complicit countries in the West.

Returning to Sri Lanka, no U.N report, has so far been made on war crimes of the war in our island, no white phosphorous bombs were used, there was no pro-longed illegal siege, there were no evidences of targeted killing of innocent civilians there was no deliberate destruction of infrastructure – homes, schools and hospitals, rape was not used as a weapon, in fact at the closing stages of the war the Sri Lankan army rescued thousands of civilians who were used by the L.T.T.E as hostages.

It is mind-boggling to think how Western politicians can be so hypocritical. They little realize that contradictions in their thinking double-speak and injustice are bound to bring catastrophe to their countries and even to themselves. Events have already begun, the quagmire in Afghanistan, uncertainty in Iraq, uncontrolled trouble in Pakistan, the Katrina hurricane in New Orleans, forest fires in Virginia and economic downturn in the US itself is evident that the nemesis has begun.

Sri Lanka a small island in the Indian Ocean with Mahinda Rajapakse as its leader has valiantly not bowed and caved in to the demands of the Western powers and in his company are Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahamadinejad, Hujanto, Fidel Castro, and Evo Morales, a small company indeed but one which has moral authority and the respect of the justice loving masses of the world.

Not to condemn Israel of war crimes in Gaza and falsely accuse Sri Lanka of war crimes without evidence is a horrendous crime in itself. Hilary Clinton’s image as a promising politician has been shattered beyond repair.

-Sri Lanka Guardian