Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (39794)	8/25/2002 12:50:46 PM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Respond to of 281500

Okie Dokie.<G> But don't get your hopes up that Musharraf's stranglehold on power will diminish after the elections , such as they will be.I think he likes things just the way they are and will play the charade of " democratic dictatorship " for years to come.Pakistan has fallen to a dictatorship.There it will remain until the NEXT coup. The US will go along, albeit in objection, until the W.O.T has been considered successful in that country.However, it is the W.O.T that will keep the US at bay in Pak,giving Musharraf a very good reason to see it extended as long as possible.Blackmail - by any other standard. KC

To: Ilaine who wrote (39794)	8/25/2002 1:07:49 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

>>US draws Sri Lanka into probable war on Iraq 2002-08-24 11:05:29 Faiz Nizar for Ummahnews 24 August 2002 Recently Sri Lanka became the latest addition to a growing list of countries to be courted by the US in its so-called war on terrorism. The overtures raised fears that the Bush administration is preparing to sign a defence agreement to provide extensive access to the island’s ports, airfields and air space for the US armed forces. Last July Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Washington for talks on the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA). It promises to be the first such pact entered into by a Sri Lankan government with a major Western power since the country’s independence in 1948. The negotiations were held in secret and no details were formally released. The US embassy in Sri Lanka only commented after the weekly Sunday Times in Colombo leaked news of the deal. A brief embassy statement declared that each party to the agreement will be able "to avail itself of servicing, repairs, spare parts and equipment of the other in exchange for payment or through the exchange of identical goods or goods of equivalent value". Although Sri Lankan officials denied that any document was signed with regard to the proposed ACS agreement the reports have fuelled concerns that the former British colony, which has just emerged from a bloody 19-year-old civil war, will become a staging post for the US military in its plans to attack Iraq. The US government stands alone in the world against all saner counsel for this unilateral action. But what’s in it for Sri Lanka, a country whose requests for US assistance were not too long ago falling on deaf ears. During the civil war Sri Lanka’s sovereignty was violated by the Indian air force and navy. Officials desperately needed big power support to countenance regional bullying, and they sought recourse to the US. Even when the high profile visit of General Walters, the special envoy of President Reagan took place in 1983/84, the US state department is said to have made it clear to the Indian embassy in Washington that "it was not designed for doing anything behind the back of India". So what explains this sudden shift in emphasis, which at this time can only sow suspicion among its peace partner, the LTTE ? From an economic point of view there is no mention of Sri Lanka being treated as a favoured nation in terms of duty for imports of garments. The US is one of the largest buyers of Sri Lankan clothing and any such concession can greatly enhance its export earnings and help narrow the country’s balance of payments deficit. No such provisions exist in the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement signed prior to the PM’s Washington trip. The US economy is not strong enough at the present juncture to enhance or even maintain any credible level of bilateral or multilateral assistance to countries beyond its core area of interest. The US economy is rapidly weakening. Expenditure on the "war on terror" is ballooning at alarming proportions. Congress has voted a massive increase in its budget for defence. The Bush administration also doled out staggering tax breaks. The stock market has plummeted to levels never seen before for over half a decade. The dollar has so weakened that it has for the first time reached parity on its reverse swing with the Euro. Capital flows into the US are declining. In general the US economy is creaking. All this is showing strains in America on the employment market, productivity and government’s finances. This could result in not only aid being curtailed but also trade barriers being imposed to protect domestic workers. In such an event the most ‘distant’ countries with little long term strategic value to the US will be the first to get affected and Sri Lanka will be no exception. The volte face in the US’s perception of Sri Lanka is evidently a result of its preparation for unilateral action against Iraq. In this context if Sri Lanka provides its facilities and air space for such an attack can be held culpable for a crime perpetrated on a whole nation including its future generation. In preparation to attack Iraq Dick Cheney recently visited some of the Middle East capitals to seek logistical assistance. It appears that almost all the countries around Iraq refused to participate or even offer logistical assistance. The staging post for the attack cannot merely be carried out from aircraft carriers in the sea. It needs land based logistical support. According to the Sunday Times, the defence agreement was drawn up this April in Colombo during discussion with a four-man team of US military and legal personnel. Preparations had taken place the previous month during a visit by a high-powered team of US officials, led by Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca and including US Brigadier General Timothy Ghormely, commander of the US Marine Expeditionary Brigade. The group met with Wickremesinghe, Defence Minister Tilak Marapana and army top brass at the Palaly army camp in the war-torn north. General Ghormely also visited Trincomalee, a key harbour on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast. The deep-water port was developed as a major naval base by the British military, which retained access after independence in 1948, up to 1956. US-based oil companies have shown interest in gaining control over a large oil storage facility at nearby China Bay, built by the British during World War II. The leasing of the oil facility has been a highly controversial issue because of Sri Lanka’s strategic location. In the late 1980s, protests by the Indian government compelled Sri Lanka to abandon plans to allow the US to use oil storage. The Sri Lankan government is now preparing to lease some of the oil tanks at China Bay to the Indian Oil Corporation, which will be allowed to provide its "own security" to protect them. India has agreed to allow US interests to use other oil tanks, if requested. Even before the agreement has been signed, US warships have begun to dock in Colombo harbour to refuel and to provide shore leave for sailors. The USS Hopper arrived in April, the first American navy vessel to dock in Colombo in eight years. It is in this context that the US-Sri Lankan ACS Agreement should be seen. For Sri Lanka there is no tangible short term or long term benefit, either economic or political, in hitching itself to the American agenda. America only has shifting interests, not permanent friends. << ummahnews.com