Editorial

7th January 2001

The terrorism quotient

Outgoing US President Bill Clinton last week ratified an extradition treaty between Sri Lanka and the United States. The treaty, which replaces the old colonial instrument which governed extradition arrangements between Sri Lanka and the US, is widely believed to be a reaffirmation of a commitment on the part of the US to combat global terrorism.

Terrorists galore in the Western capitals, and the best response that seems to emanate from the political power centers of these capitals is that nations should 'negotiate.'

Western powers and Western donors in particular often seem befuddled by the fact there is so much antipathy in this country towards Norwegian intervention and mediation in the North - East conflict. The Western 'spin' on the whole issue of organized opposition towards foreign mediation, is that this is an unlearned response which finds its voice from among the rabble and the social dregs.

But, the Norwegians are allied to the British. This is not just within the folds of the European Union but also within the framework of donor status, both countries being developed Western nations which are interested in investment in the so called developing world.

But, the British, with whom the Norwegians are in cahoots, harbour Sri Lankan terrorist organizations. The British political establishment is also blithe about the fact that there are no legal instruments efficient enough to combat terrorism that is aimed against this country which originates from London based front offices.

In other words, the Norwegians belong to a club of nations that spawn international cross border terrorists who destabilize countries such as ours, and yet, the Sri Lankan intelligentsia is written off as being chauvinistic and absurdly passionate when they oppose any Norwegian intrusion in our national crisis.

The uncomplicated fact is that the Norwegians have to go a long way in the bona fide department.

For a starter, the Norwegians can prevail on their European Union friends, to flush out international terrorists. The British might call that Norwegian intervention in their own internal affairs, but that will at least afford us spectators a hearty laugh, because it will show that only British internal affairs are sacrosanct in the international scheme of things.

But, the British themselves have almost tried to beat the Sri Lankan government into submission in the matter of welcoming the so called Norwegian good offices. The British possibly would have liked to mediate on their own, for reasons best known to the British, but British tolerance of LTTE terrorism has been so blithe and obvious that the Norwegian catspaw is for the UK, probably a better choice.

Of course all these will be dismissed as paranoid conspiratorial hogwash by some political analysts, and academics .

But, if the mighty US itself developed cold feet due to international terrorist groups operating within its borders, it is obvious that the international terrorism has assumed unmanageable proportions. In reality, there is nothing spectacular that an extradition treaty will do towards eliminating international terrorism, because even if the Americans close some of the plugs, the British — not without some valuable help from the Norwegians — continue to pull the stops in the sink. To give one familiar aphorism a twist, it's useless closing one stable door, if the horse can bolt from the other side.

The Political Column

Editorial/ Opinion Contents