CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

The Yankees and Political Solutions

Janaka Yagirala

It seems that the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert Blake is keen to see us “defeat the LTTE with a political solution” after US concern on “civil rights abuses” and “civilian casualties” and seeing that “defeating the LTTE is difficult”.

To start off, there is a country in the world (followed by India and Britain) that has succeeded in conjuring up the hate of so many countries and people on earth. From Mexico, Castro, Hugo Chavez, the countless poverty stricken Latin Americans to the Middle East, the land of Johnny Cheese (which when said in Dutch led to the word Yankees) is indeed a magnet for hate. Like landing men on the moon it can be called a great achievement.

Like the old adage “you reap what you sow”, the United States of America sowed a lot of little nasty seeds to beget the hate it receives from around the world, culminating with the infamous September 11th attack.

The birth of the US came forth with the extermination of Native Americans, starting from the infamous “we were deceived” purchase of Manhattan Island by Peter Minuit for $24. Everything from guns to smallpox were used. It’s a pity that there were no human rights observers at that time.

The wealth of the US came forth from Africa. Again, human trafficking laws and labour laws were yet to be invented. This allowed entire African tribes to be kidnapped, shipped like cattle and work without wage on Dixie cotton farms to make the US the prosperous nation it is.

Not surprisingly, when it comes to war the US has no policy. In an attempt to grab more territory, the US waged war with its northern neighbour Canada in 1812 which ended in a stalemate after two years and nearly 2200 Yankee and 1600 Canadian deaths. Realizing this, the focus was sent to the unfortunate southern neighbour, Mexico. Unlike Canada which had British backing, Mexico was an easy target, a country of simple farmers minding their own business.

The Mexican land grab started with the US annexation of Texas in 1845, followed by the war from 1846-48. Once in a while, a good Yankee did turn up, like Senator Joshua Giddings who said "In the murder of Mexicans upon their own soil, or in robbing them of their country, I can take no part either now or here-after. The guilt of these crimes must rest on others. I will not participate in them."

The US war with Mexico finally paid its dividends, with the US expanding its territory by acquiring California, Utah and Nevada. The states of Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado also grew as a result of the land grab. Mexico shrunk by one third.

Pearl Harbour is often seen as the epic fight of good against evil, however here again, it was just the US reaping its harvest. The Pearl Harbour attack was more of saying “its your turn” Japanese style. It was in response to the notorious 1854 Convention of Kanagawa where the US Navy under Commodore Mathew Perry forced the Japanese to open their ports to US trade. It was done in typical cowboy style with Commodore Perry first visited Japan in 1852 with small fleet. He failed is objective and returned in 1854 with twice the fleet and firepower, enough to convince the Japanese to sign the treaty at gunpoint. This was much like JRJ signing the Indo-Lanka Accord with RG after the infamous drop of Parippu.

Nevertheless, the US fought WW2 in typical style, Japanese, German and Italian Americans were herded to “internment” camps (in other words a more diplomatic word for concentration camps) such as Manzanar, Tule Lake, Poston and Minidoka. Japanese survivors floating on debris after the battle in Guadalcanal were machine gunned by the US Navy. The November 1944 incendiary bombing of Tokyo by the US resulted in nearly 100,000 civilian deaths. The US and British incendiary raid on Dresden in February 1945 killed a yet undetermined number of civilians. Last but not least, was there anybody to voice for civilian rights when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Next came Vietnam, where a common practice by the GI’s was to bundle up captured Vietcong fighters and toss them out of helicopters. The infamous B-52 was used to its maximum extent, with Laos setting a record of being the most bombed country on earth (with 100% Made in USA ordinance). Agent Orange and Napalm were used at will. Most of the members of VAVA (Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin) are in fact civilians!

Fortunately for a while Vietnam became a nightmare until it was superseded by Iraq. Apparently the need to keep Yankee gas-guzzlers running was so bad, that Colin Powel had to give a special lecture on Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction to the UN. As a consequence, the Yankees fight the Iraqi insurgents with the cousin of Agent Orange, radioactive Depleted Uranium Ordinance. Today, the practice of tossing bundled up POW’s has been replaced by the more diplomatic waterboarding (aka simulated drowning) and human pyramid of Abu Graib and Gitmo.

In all, the defeat of Iraqi Insurgents and Bin Ladins buddies in Afghanistan seems to be a little too difficult for the Yankees. It wasn’t like the case of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega who came to power thanks to the US and was swiftly removed from power when he wanted the Panama Canal.

So it is about time for the US to lead the world and set an example.

Defeat Bin Ladin and the Iraqi Insurgency with a political solution!

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