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An Open letter to Mrs. Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party of USA
By Charles Perera
We in the developing world believed in Democrats of America, as understanding and willing to extend its help for the developing countries of the world. We had been deceived by the Republic Government of America, which follows a more self protective political policy with an aim to keep the developing counties stagnant in their development and keeping them dependent on the International Community. Its policy of acting as a policeman of the world rather than taking the role of a benevolent leader was deceptive.
Because of its, bungling Administrative policy, the USA has become an unpopular country among the developing Nations. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, its refusal to give any technical aid, and moral support for its fight against the terrorists and continued attempt to treat the sovereign government and the terrorists on the same footing, made USA and its International Community a stumbling block for the progress of the country.
Sri Lanka is a multi racial country and there had been no problem with the different communities, until a group of men from the Tamil Community, with their racial hatred for the Sinhala the Majority community, took arms to create a separate state for the Tamils. The Group was youthful when they started off and was not far thinking. They did not represent the Tamil population, 54 percent of which is living with the Sinhalese and Muslims in the South in peaceful harmony.
The small group of terrorists were helped by the Indian neighbour at the beginning, and the idea of Nationalism beginning to germinate in the minds of the Tamils of South India, the terrorist group got military and gorilla warfare training in South India and subsequently established them selves in the North and East of Sri Lanka, and began their period of terror against the people and the Government of Sri Lanka. They could not be made to se reason and lay down arms for peaceful negotiations despite a Cease Fire Agreement entered into by a previous government.
The terrorist as most other terrorists resorted to armed terror tactics as a tool to acquire political power. Each group of terrorists in the world may have different motives but what makes them dangerous terrorist is their uncompromising attitude to attain whatever different motives, without laying down their arms. It is in that attitude the Al –Kaida, the LTTE terrorists in Sri Lanka, or the Basque separatists in Spain, or the insurgents in al-Anbar province fall within the definition of terrorists.
In this situation Mme Hilary Clinton, we in Sri Lanka cannot understand you who is the Democratic Party candidate for the next Presidential candidate take the same Republican Party Attitude and say, "The bottom line is, you can't lump all terrorists together. And I think we've got to do a much better job of clarifying what are the motivations, the raisons d'être of terrorists." "I mean, what the Tamil Tigers are fighting for in Sri Lanka, or the Basque separatists in Spain, or the insurgents in al-Anbar province may only be connected by tactics. They may not share all that much in terms of what is the philosophical or ideological underpinning." "And I think one of our mistakes has been painting with such a broad brush, which has not been particularly helpful in understanding what it is we were up against when it comes to those who pursue terrorism for whichever ends they're seeking"
We are shocked, at that statement coming from you as the Presidential Candidate of the Democratic Party . Perhaps it is a gimmick you are using to score a point against the Republicans. If so it shows a complete lack of willingness on your party to evaluate terrorism differently from the policies of the present State Department with which the President Bush is being fed.
This interpretation of terrorism , by you Madam shows a narrow minded, strictly egoistic means sought by to win a few votes. This does not auger well for USA which until now has been the unchallenged leader of the world.
Terrorism is a new menace to peace in the world, and it should be viewed in that context and not as a means to score points over a political candidate. If you do that and term the terrorists in Sri Lanka as freedom fighters, you are doing a wrong to a Sovereign state, and you will bring more hatred towards USA. It is time that USA, takes its leadership role in the world seriously, otherwise the developing countries will refuse to accept your leadership in the world, as there are a number of competing States for that role in the making just now in the World.
You should not draw up your policies as a means to attract the American home votes, but to project the Democratic Presidential candidate as a dependable leader to settle multiple problems of small and big nations of the world. It is a candidate that gives credence and pride to the people of USA that will win the popular vote of the American people. Therefore, you should be able to fight terrorism in the world, without cowardly taking refuge under the fact that terrorism has different facets. Terrorism is the same in which ever country and for what ever motive it has been resorted to. That was the correct assessment made by the President Bush, though he had been demanding the government of Sri Lanka to enter into a peace negotiations with the terrorist, to fit it into a secret Agenda of the International Community
The Government of Sri Lanka had never deviated from its stand for a negotiated political settlement with the terrorists. But it had been the terrorists who had been backing out of it, and continued their terrorist activities by kidnapping children, killing civilians by setting claymore bombs, killing opponents by employing pistol gangs, and human suicide bombs. The Government, continues retaliatory and pre-emptive attacks to keep the terrorists at check. In that situation it is unthinkable that America would give respectability to a ruthless group of murderous terrorists, by calling them by any other name. If you take off for instance the Terrorists of Sri Lanka from the list of banned terrorists groups in the world, you become a sympathiser of the terrorists, and aid and abet terrorists in their multifarious crimes.
What would be more intelligent is for you not to depend on already available reports collected by the State Department of Bush Administration, but make investigative studies of the situation in Sri Lanka based on the history of the Island, its culture and social and religious environment by your own investigators and come to a more acceptable conclusion. You do not seem to understand the implications of terrorism that is why you seem to want to classify terrorists according to motives, rather than their terrorist activities. Any person or a group of persons who takes up arms and terrorises, their own people and the people belonging to other communities, turn their back to democracy and assassinate politicians, intellectuals, and all opponents, kidnaps children and make soldiers or bombs of them, tortures, collects ransom, such persons or a group of persons are none other than terrorists.
If you get elected as the President of United State of America, with the concept of terrorism as you have claimed, it would be a sad day to USA and the World. We would in that case still prefer a Republican Candidate, who would fight terrorism where ever it is in the world, to become the next President of USA.
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