Importance of being a good friend of the US

TERRORISM: September 11th dawned. Candles were lit to commemorate the dead? George W. Bush reiterated his commitment to eradicate terrorism from the face of earth. Some Americans clapped, others gasped for breath, and some moaned for the loved ones lost in the war against terrorism.

Then, not unexpectedly, various theories were concocted. These theories included that this was a grand design of the FBI and the CIA to declare war on terror and Muslims. Some said that the Twin Towers Collapsed as a bomb was exploded by the agencies near the basement. So, the Al Qaeda and Uncle Sam enacted this episode together.

I thought only people in Sri Lanka loved to believe conspiracy theories. But, now I find that we have good company with Europeans and South Americans, Japanese and even some Americans, who all love to believe conspiracy stories.

Then, there are legions of philosophers and intellectuals, headed by one of the foremost intellectuals living, Noam Chomsky, who openly accused Uncle Sam of being the leading terrorist state in the world.

He has written books, which are best sellers, denouncing the American government as the one that killed millions of innocent people.

Recently, Sister Ridley, who was a captive of the Taliban, bashed the American government and George W. Bush as a war criminal and called his main supporter, Tony, his poodle. she captivated the audience that day. I admire her for her guts, convictions and for her oratory.

I admire Noam Chomsky and all other intellectuals, free thinkers, philosophers and converts who are in the forefront bashing Uncle Sam. This will clearly show how freedom of speech and all other associated freedoms are guaranteed by Uncle Sam which permits these people to go globe trotting denouncing their country and making all kinds of unpatriotic statements and then to return home and live without any fear that bullets will be discharged by some unknown gunmen, killing them instantly.

Recently, one of the most important and significant piece of information, we read, was the arrest of LTTE activists by undercover agents of Uncle Sam. How meticulously they followed the leads and waited in the bush to trap the terrorists and finally pounce upon them. It was like a piece out of best selling crime fiction story. Thus, should we get into the bandwagon of those who, for a living, bash the American government or cheer Uncle Sam for having helped our cause to some extent?

The attack on the Twin Towers had many reverberations relevant to us.

Till then we were the aggressors who were obstructing the solution to grievances of the Tamils, represented by the LTTE. They were the liberators, the freedom fighters, who have been pushed by repressive Sinhala governments. They had no alternative but to kill or maim civilians and destroy business nerve centres.

This was the only means in which they could achieve their goals. The word terrorist was an incentive cruel word for freedom fighters. "The Sinhala racist regime must accept full responsibility for the present quagmire and negotiate peace. Why only the LTTE, what about the other representatives of the Tamil people? Who are they? Can they be found? Aren't they being wiped out by the 'Boys'? If the Tamils have selected an avatar of Vishnu to liberate them from Sinhala hegemony, why question their methods. Though their methods are not acceptable to us, what alternative do we have?" The pro Eelam lobby would tell the Americans, the Europeans and the Indians.

We were cornered. The Diaspora, with the active support of some in our foreign service, legitimized terror and suicide bombings.

The 1983 riots were the pivot on which the LTTE rested upon. Being branded as uncivilized barbarians, the terror war went unheeded. Supported by Europeans and other power blocks, we were losing not only the war but the propaganda battle. We were made to believe the invincibility of LTTE, and the unsurpassed negotiating skills of Balasingham. Suicide bombers struck terror everywhere. We were heading nowhere.

When the Al Qaeda hit the Twin towers and other targets on 9/11, 'Uncle Sam', for the first time, tasted what terrorism was and it was on his door step. Though we had been weeping wailing and yelling and telling the world of terror tactics adopted by the LTTE, these claims had been dismissed with disdain. Then after 9/11, George W. Bush announced to the world that a war against an unknown enemy was on. Then the LTTE was banned as a terrorist organisation.

So what choiced do we have? If you love peace, you cannot condone terrorism. If you condone terrorism, then you are not for peace. All peace lovers must oppose terrorism. Then we have no choice but to embrace Uncle Sam.

In any civilized state, the police are there to maintain peace and they may exceed their powers in doing so. All these years we have had two power blocks and we always got dragged into the wrong camp. Now, there is only one super power, which is labelled as being the world's cop.

It is blamed for everything that goes wrong in the world. If someone sneezes, 'Uncle Sam' is blamed. This is not a new phenomenon. In 1978, William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdic wrote a book titled 'The Ugly American'. It was the first book to bash the American policy in South East Asia. It sold millions of copies. Where? In good old 'Uncle Sam's own territory.

I remember, being a leftist, that believed the fantasy concocted by some leaders that the Seventh Fleet was going to land and take over Sri Lanka, and was overjoyed having read the book. It exposed American arrogance, incompetence, corruption in South Asia and how ugly 'Uncle Sam' was losing the struggle against Communism in South Asia. What happened? Uncle Sam got a battering in Vietnam.

But today, Vietnam is a business partner of Uncle Sam. We are at the receiving end. Not by the domino effect and Sri Lanka becoming a communist state, but by the competition we are facing in the garment trade and other industries, from countries like Vietnam.

In Sri Lanka there were literally many people rejoicing an re-enacting, even today, the American defeat in Vietnam. But in Vietnam everything has been forgotten. Everyone is hell bent on making money. Multinational companies, Robber barons, are welcome.

The communist dictatorship has ensured there is investment and that investors are protected. The Government is stable, the workers work long hours for less pay and without striking. There are no unions, no demands. Communist China, which could not produce a pair of shoes that could be sold in the world market, which had super stores for foreigners buy with a currency that was not available to the peasants.

A tin of Ovaltine or a bottle of Horlicks was super luxury. Our English speaking tourist guide inquired whether he could come to Sri Lanka and escape to Europe from this Communist hell. Today, after Nixon's initial initiative, China has become virtual younger brother to the US. Its economic growth astounds all economists.

Very soon, they predict that China will become the second and subsequently the main economic power in the world. Deng Shiao Ping, the miracle man, gripped the hand of the US and held it tightly. Today, in my reckoning, China is the most rigid capitalist State in the world. William Lederer was wrong. Uncle Sam lost the struggle but won the battle against communism.

If you remember what Chairman Mao said about America, during the Cultural Revolution, you will find how soon these predictions had become hollow. Mao said 'All reactionaries are paper tigers. The reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.

Wasn't Hitler once considered very strong? But history proved that he was a paper tiger. So was Massolini, so was Japanese imperialism. On the contrary, the strength of the Soviet Union and of the people in all countries who loved democracy and freedom, proved much greater than had been foreseen".

This was God Mao. His four times disgraced 'Deng Shiao Ping' threw this rhetoric to the dustbin of history and embrace Uncle Sam. The resultant position is China is one of the biggest trading partners of US and one of the largest economics in the world. Mao was right about one thing. People in Soviet Union, who loved freedom and democracy, threw the totalitarian communist regime for ever.

Now we hear from other corners of the world that 'Uncle Sam' is the great Satan. So the battles will go on. Like Mao's prediction went wrong, the 'Uncle Sam' should win again in the future.

In our country, the hypocrisy of some of the leaders, who bash Americans for their dinner and desserts but send their children to the US for education, it is illuminating. How funny this is. Education in the most capitalist, Satanic State must be extremely bad. How come they send their children to embrace Satan and permit the great Satan to feed their children with this dirty American propaganda?

I asked one of these children, who had returned to Sri Lanka, what country he would like to live and spend his life.

He said, "Sri Lanka, but if I am given an option I would definitely choose the US". Why? I asked and what he said was most revealing. "The US is the freest nation on earth. It is the country with least social discrimination due to colour. I was astounded by the way they reacted when our country was hit by the tsunami.

They knew that I was a Sri Lankan. Many friends of mine gave their pocket money to me to help the victims. My letter box was full of letters containing checks from unknown donors who had found that I was the only Sri Lankan living in that condomium and they filled my post box with cheques and money. It is a land of opportunity.

It is a land where dreams are made off. Uncle, have you heard about Pierre Omidiyar? His parents were Iranians and he was educated in Paris. He is one of the biggest tycoons in the US and owns 'eBay'.

Have you heard of Vinod Khosla? He was son of petty Army officer in India. Now he is a leading venture capitalist and a billionaire. So Uncle Sam truly provides an opportunity to anyone, irrespective of his origins, to make it big. The American Dream is not confined to the Americans but to anyone in America," he said.

But is it not true that some religious fundamentalist states are morally superior to the US, I queried from this bright young man.

"I believe America is the freest nation on earth, remember Watergate? But this freedom also gives room to vice vulgarity and immorality. But other states which claim that they are morally superior, inculcate these virtues in the people by force. But in the US, sometimes freedom leads to all the vices, but remember, freedom brings out the best and the worst in people. That is why most Americans you meet in the street or in school are descent people."

Then he said, "If America relaxes its immigration rules and invites everyone to come to America, there will be mass exodus from those states which have a great liking for bashing Americans. Except for Osama Bin Laden, Aymm Al-Zavahir, A.H.M. Nasser, Abdul Rahaman Yasin our own Velupillai Prabhakaran, Pottu Amman all others will stand in a queue to enter the US and become free citizens in land of opportunities," he said, closing the arguments about good and bad of America.

The US has several times reiterated that the Sri Lankan Government must talk peace and arrive at a settlement so that genuine aspirations of the Tamils are meted out. They are wholeheartedly supportive of a settlement with the ultimate objective of peace. But they denounce the methods of the LTTE.

Though most people do not know, the US is steadfastly opposes any civilians being killed. They abhour the concept of suicide bombing, which was reintroduced with vigor by Prabhakaran.

The policy of the US, whether we like it or not, shapes the world. The LTTE is aware that they have derived a very bad image by the attempted murder of the Army Commander by a female suicide bomber. This caused shock waves among the diplomatic community and showed how vulnerable one was to the suicide bomber.

The US became more determined to root out terrorism and support the Government after this incident. In addition to the excellent security measures in place, I doubt very much whether the Tigers would use suicide bombers to kill anyone in the near future.

Therefore, we in this little Island of Sri Lanka, cannot afford to bash 'Uncle Sam' but to embrace him. It would do wonders if some patriotic Sri Lankans march the streets to Colombo waving the American flag supporting their initiative to root out terrorism from the world.

The Tigers were hitherto not concerned about the world. They were only concerned about establishing a separate state. They had an excellent relationship with some American senators. Some of them were their chief guests and main speakers at their conferences.

We were foolishly bashing the Americans and supporting the cause of other terrorists while the LTTE was winning the propaganda war against us. But all this changed with the tactics of Tigers and in the aftermath of 9/11 attack. The LTTE was deemed a terrorist organisation. But, still we were reluctant to accept who our friends and enemies were.

Now saner counsel has prevailed. I am happy to note that Mahinda Rajapaksa is able to meet George W. Bush and enter into a round table discussion.

This augurs well for us to start an excellent relationship with the US. We have been eating their flour, given to feed the hungry, while bashing them. We have fallen head over heals to get their money to assist our development projects through the World Bank and IMF and yet bashed them more vigorously. We had been constantly fooled by the rhetoric of the left and now by some fundamentalist states and bashed them.

The time has come for us to win the war and address the genuine grievances of the Tamil People. Then, like in Vietnam, money would just pour in and economic development will halt any move for separation.

Like in Tamil Nadu, the secessionist movement died a natural death, with the economic development. The separatist movement will whither away. Every one will be hell bent on making money. Eelam would be confined to history. To achieve these goals we must be an avowed friend of the US without question.