Horrendous Western Misreadings of Sri Lankan Situation in 2008-09

  Tony Donaldson’s Capsule Comment in Facebook A Few Years Back++
Michael, …. Two great articles in “Ambassador Blake in Never-Never Land…” and “The imperious interventions of David Miliband….” I am not surprised by any of this. US diplomats should study anthropology for a few years. It might teach them to recognize neo-colonialism in their own value system.
It reminds us that the US., its diplomats and think tanks which operate in the guise of academic institutions, do not present global or universal values as they pretend or claim, but a deeply entrenched relativist one that is tied to US interests (but in this instance, the sheer lack of understanding about what occurs in SL is mind-boggling).
Displaced Tamils on the movein the northern Vanni  — from west eastwards in mid-late 2008

At the end of the day, we still live with relativism, be it cultural or moral, governed by political, economic and cultural beliefs. We don’t hear much about globalization today. At one time, it was worshiped in universities like a manifestation of God. The Western brand of it has failed, leaving China to take it over in its own form. We are back in the land of relativism – in fact we never left it. Neo-colonialism is still there.
  *********&&&&*************
Michael Roberts: “Ambassador Blake in Never-Never Land> Misreading LTTE Capacity in Early 2009,”  26 August 2015, https://thuppahis.com/2015/08/26/ambassador-blake-in-never-never-land-misreading-ltte-capacity-in-early-2009/
Michael RobertsBall-by-Ball through Wikileaks: US Embassy Despatches from Colombo, 2009: ONE,” 27 August 2014, http://thuppahis.com/2014/08/27/ball-by-ball-through-wikileaks-us-embassy-despatches-from-colombo-2009-one/
Michael Roberts: “David Miliband’s Imperious Intervention in Sri Lanka left in Tatters, 5 July 2016,

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2008 “Victory at the Battle of Kilinochchi,” Defence Review Asia, Dec 2008–Jan 2009, Vol. 2/9, pp. 7-8.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009a “Battle for Mullaitivu enters Final Stage,” Defence Review Asia, Vol. 3/1, pp. 10-12.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009b “Political and Security Implications of Sri Lanka’s Armed Conflict,” Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, Feb. 2009, Vol. 35/1, pp. 20, 22-24.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009c“The Last Stand of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,” Future Directions International, Weekly Global Report, 3 March 2009, pp. 7-10.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009d “The Battle for the Vanni Pocket,” Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, March 2009, Vol. 35/2, pp. 17-19 — http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/aulimp/citations/gsa/2009_157395/ 156554.html

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009e “Tiger Trail. Strategic Defeat of the LTTE and its Implications,” Force, April 2009, pp. 50-54.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009f “Sri Lanka’s Experience in Counter-Insurgency Warfare,” Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, October 2009, pp. 40-46.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009e “Good education. Sri Lankan military learns insurgency lessons,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, December 2009, pp. 2-7.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2009g “Lessons in Maritime Counter-Insurgency,” Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, January 2010, 36: 50-53.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2010a “Information Warfare and the Endgame of the Civil War,” Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter, May 2010, 30/4: 35-37, http://wwwasiapacificdefencereporter. com/articles/40/Sri-Lanka.

De Silva-Ranasinghe, Sergei 2010b “Downfall of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,” 6 June 2010, http://www.defstrat.com/exec/frmArticleDetails.aspx?DID=243

Gamage, Daya 2014 “The American Agenda for Sri Lanka’s National Issues, 1970s-2014,” 5 July 2014, http://thuppahis.com/2014/07/05/the-american-agenda-for-sri-lankas-national-issues-1970s-2014/

Gamage, Daya 2015 “U.S. clears Sri Lanka of Civilian Deaths: Faults Tiger Human Shield,” 14 August 2015, http://www.asiantribune.com/node/87659.

Gaspar,Raj, Fr. N. 2010 “Mullivaikal Last Stages. Facts unknown to the Tamil speaking world,” 23 June 2010, http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2010/06/mullivaikal-last-stages.html

IDAG [Citizen Silva] 2013 “Numbers Game. The Politics of Retributive Justice,” http://www.scribd.com/doc/132499266/The-Numbers-Game-Politics-of-Retributive-Justice

Reddy, B. Muralidhar 2009a “An Escape from Hellhole,” http://www.hindu.com/ 2009/04/25/stories/2009042558390100.html.

Reddy, Muralidhar 2009b “Multiple Displacements, Total Loss of Identity.”The Hindu, 27 May 2009, http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/27/stories/2009052755811500.htm

Roberts, Michael 2009 “Realities of War,” Frontline, 26/10, 9-22 May 2009.

Roberts, Michael 2014a “The War in Sri Lanka: Ravi Nessman’s Slanted Story for USA on the Tavis Smiley Show, 18 February 2009,” 31 January 2014, http://thuppahis.com/2014/01/31/the-war-in-sri-lanka-ravi-nessmans-slanted-story-for-usa-on-the-tavis-smiley-show-18-february-200/

Roberts, Michael 2014b Ball-by-Ball through Wikileaks: US Embassy Despatches from Colombo, 2009: ONE,” 27 August 2014, http://thuppahis.com/2014/08/27/ball-by-ball-through-wikileaks-us-embassy-despatches-from-colombo-2009-one/

Roberts, Michael 2015a “Targeting Sri Lanka by playing ball with Tamil Extremism,” 24 July 2015, https://thuppahis.com/wpadmin/post.php?post=17127&action=edit&postpost=v2

   ************  *************
++ A New Zealander  who has written on Sunil Shantha, Tony Donaldson speaks Malay and Chinese. 
“Tony Donaldson to introduce Sunil Shantha and His Music to Contemporary Lanakns,” 26 October 2016, https://thuppahis.com/2016/10/26/tony-donaldson-to-introduce-sunil-santha-and-his-sinhala-music-to-contemporary-lankans/
Sachitra Mahenda  “Maestro unsurpassed,” 14 December 2016, https://dailynews.lk/2016/12/14/features/101780

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, american imperialism, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, disparagement, foreign policy, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, life stories, LTTE, military strategy, nationalism, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, suicide bombing, taking the piss, Tamil civilians, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, the imaginary and the real, trauma, truth as casualty of war, UN reports, unusual people, vengeance, war crimes, war reportage, world events & processes, zealotry

Leave a Reply