Blake wooed genocidal Sri Lanka Army to help Afghan war says Wikileaks

| by P. Sivakumaran

(October 09, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Within months of a war masterminded to end in the genocide of Lankan Tamils, the US Asst Secretary of State Robert Blake wooed the genocidal Sri Lanka Army’s help in the US-led war in Afghanistan, reveals a Wikileaks document. In a meeting that took place in Colombo on 8th December 2009 with SL Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, “Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka contributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan, noting that would be a significant step in support of improving military-to-military engagement,” briefs a classified cable of the US embassy in Colombo. Citing Muslim sentiments and ire of Islamic organizations, Gotabhaya avoided committing on any direct involvement, but he came out with an alternative for Sri Lanka providing covert training assistance in Afghanistan through NGOs and Private Military Companies.

“Blake emphasized American and international expectations and concerns about accountability and reconciliation, and urged the GSL to make every effort to show it had investigated and when appropriate held accountable members of the military alleged to have committed human rights abuses or war crimes.”

Earlier Wikileaks documents have revealed how an international orchestration was masterminded by the US for the Vanni war that ended up in genocide and paved way for the on-going structural genocide of the nation of Lankan Tamils. Blake was one of the main architects of the whole process.

Blake has never accepted genocide and colonization taking place in the island against Lankan Tamils.

In lines with the thinking of Gotabhaya on the future Sri Lanka’s military, the UN has recently signed a MoU on inducting the genocidal Army of Sri Lanka into UN Peacekeeping missions.

India never wants an international investigation to protect the culprits in its Establishment and that goes without saying protecting Rajapaksas. India thinks that a snowballing impact could be pre-empted by thrusting a wanting political formula onto an intimidated and cowed leadership of Lankan Tamils.

Two other powers, China and Russia, and some countries tagged behind them or behind India, in their behaviour in international forums, directly or indirectly endorse the US model of imperialism experimented by the genocide of Lankan Tamils.

Politicians and military strategists in the so-called Liberal Democracies of the West talk and act in different ways.

The leaked confidential US cables show how the US that designed the war and allowed it to end in genocide, was secretly wooing the help of the genocidal SL military in its war in Afghanistan while talking ‘accountability’ and war crimes investigations on Sri Lanka.

But sections of diaspora Tamils in North America recently staged a comic show of politics by demanding the US action on Rajapaksa, equating him with Osama and Gaddafi.

On the other hand, mesmerized by the ‘Ram’ mantra of seeking solutions from Rajapaksa without definitions, sections of the TNA in the island think self-determination of a nation facing genocide is a sin.

Similar forces were responsible for KP ending up with Gotabhaya and for planting elements in the TNA, commented experienced Tamil political circles in the island.

Getting no response at all for the call of war crimes investigations or economic sanctions and ‘equal citizenship’ paradigm is being misused, what is going to be the next step of the polity of Tamil Nadu is earnestly awaited by Lankan Tamils.

With time allowances Sri Lanka is generously granted in the international arena and considering the current phase of a master plan being implemented by Sri Lanka in the land of Lankan Tamils, the total annihilation of Lankan Tamils as a nation having its territory in the island and even their structural genocide will be complete within 5 years, is the opinion of social workers in the island.

Following are excerpts from and observations on Gotabhaya - Blake meeting that took place on 08 December 2009, brought out by the WikiLeaks:

“[Gotabhaya] Rajapaksa replied that contributing forces for combat operations right now would be too politically sensitive during the current election season in Sri Lanka. He added that the GSL would have to consider seriously the implications for its Muslim minority as well as the danger of drawing the ire of groups like Al-Qaida and Lashkar-e-Taiba by becoming a force provider. He said a possible alternative for Sri Lanka might be to provide training assistance to Afghan security forces under the auspices of a non-governmental organization or private company,” the US embassy cable briefed.

Elucidating on the possibility of Sri Lanka’s covert operations in Afghanistan, Gotabhaya was citing the model of the role played by British and South African ‘private’ companies helping Colombo in the war against Lankan Tamils way back in 1985-1986.

“He recalled a local precedent for this approach, dating back to 1985-1986 when a South Africa-based company had provided security assistance to Sri Lanka in the early years of the war with the LTTE.”

“He said the company had provided military and security experts from a host of countries, including the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth nations, and even some Russians.”

“For four or five years, the company was based in Jaffna and had trained Sri Lankan pilots and taught infantry tactics, including close quarters combat skills. He said that while the South African company had not participated in combat operations, it had closely monitored Sri Lankan military operations, assisting in de-briefing patrols and conducting after action reviews.”

Revealing his future plans for SL military, Gotabhaya expressed his readiness to contribute 10,000 SL soldiers immediately for UN Peacekeeping missions. He envisaged expanding Sri Lanka’s Navy to prevent LTTE coming back and he assured participation in maritime coalition operations against piracy and trafficking of persons and narcotics.

Blake meeting Gotabhaya in December 2009, barely 7 months after the genocidal end of the Vanni war, was supposedly to discuss accountability and reconciliation; the State of Emergency; disarmament of ex-combatants and paramilitary groups; reconstruction in the North; rehabilitation of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ex-combatants; LTTE child soldiers and access to LTTE ex-combatants for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), other than the military talk.

But the cable shows that Blake’s agenda on ‘accountability’ was confined to scapegoating only some members of the SL military for the war of genocidal proportions.

“Blake emphasized American and international expectations and concerns about accountability and reconciliation, and urged the GSL to make every effort to show it had investigated and when appropriate held accountable members of the military alleged to have committed human rights abuses or war crimes,” the cable said adding that Gotabhaya’s reply was that the military was taking action.

Blake was listening to Gotabhaya defending the emergency to keep the ex-LTTE combatants in detention, his assurance that SL had disarmed all paramilitaries, his deceptive talk that SL had encouraged the Tamil diaspora to take a greater role in reconstruction and his accusation that the ICRC was interfering in the ‘rehabilitation’ programmes and was undermining international donor support.

Blake clarified that the ICRC was not undermining such support.

The cable shows that Blake’s ‘experience’ of the situation 7 months after the genocidal war was that there were few patients in the hospital in the camps, the area around Madu Church had not appeared as damaged by the war as expected and what the IDP s badly wanted was “more computers and more bicycles.”

In his meeting with Gotabhaya “Blake suggested that the GSL exchange further information about LTTE networks with U.S. counter-terrorism experts.”