Sri Lanka as US military logistics hub combining SOFA-ACSA-MCC & Peace Corps
MCC is one of the 3 pillars of US National Security Strategy initially rolled out in 2002 (Defense, Development & Diplomacy) ACSA and SOFA are clear US strategic military arrangements while MCC falls into category of US national security strategy ‘development’ pillar. US national security strategy’s 3 pillars aligns to Dept of State & USAID Joint Strategic Plan 2018-022. The 4th pillar of the NSS (Advance American Influence”) stresses the importance of collaboration with partners and focusing investments where the U.S. Government can have the most impact (this is envisaged via privatizing State land for commercial purposes with US companies and transnational companies operating the economic corridor). By virtue of MCC Board having member of USAID – the MCC-USAID connection is also clear. With US Secretary of State & Congress aligned to MCC-ACSA-SOFA the connections of the 3 cannot be ignored either. Some are naïve enough to demand to be shown in black & white how the 3 are connected! While the 4-member Committee only subjecting their review to the clauses of MCC Agreement, the GoSL cannot afford to ignore the geopolitical objectives of the US aligned to its national security strategy, indo-pacific strategy and overall objective to contain China as well as grab resources in Asia Pacific for US & Allies. We are foolish not to connect the dots & ignore the future dangers.
It is not a US military base that US intends to set up in Sri Lanka but a US military logistics hub (‘lily-pad concept)
In 2017 Congress passed the Reinforcing Education Accountability in Development (READ) Act, (Division A, Public Law 115-56). US agencies part of this ACT are U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), National Security Advisor, and Director of the Peace Corps. These agencies will work with partner countries, other donors, multilateral organizations, the private sector, non-government organizations (NGOs), and faith-based institutions around the world. The READ document features 3 players operating in Sri Lanka – US State Dept, MCC & US Peace Corps. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/USG-Education-Strategy_FY2019-2023_Final_Web.pdf
How US is influencing Sri Lanka
- LAW ENFORCEMENT: US training & assisting Sri Lankan officials in counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism
- JUDICIARY: USAID assisting rule of law & improve management of legal system & policy formulation in partnership with Sri Lanka Bar Association & US Legal Aid Commission
- TREASURY: US Treasury assisting fiscal & debt challenges
- AGRICULTURE: US has given $21m to increase dairy sector
- EDUCATION: US Peace Corps to teach ‘AMERICAN’ English
- MEDIA: US embassy Colombo training journalists on access to information, types of stories covered and improving English
- PARLIAMENT/MPs: 2016, collaboration between Sri Lanka Parliament & US House Democracy Partnership training MPs and Parliament staff
- LOCAL GOVERNMENT: USAID training local government institutes in Eastern Province & reintegration and stabilization in North & East
- GENERAL PUBLIC: USAIDtraining democratic governance, women and minorities
Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018 specifically calls for expanding cooperation with democratic partners in South Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.”
US influence increasing since 2015 Regime Change
- 2018 – US ‘brilliantly succeeded’ in deploying US Indo-Pacific Command within days of Easter Sunday attack on pretext of assisting Sri Lanka fight ISIS.
- Aug 2018 USS Anchorage and a unit of US Marines visited Trinco port.
- Dec 2018 – US set up ‘logistics hub’ to ‘receive support, supplies & services’ for US Navy ships operating in the Indian Ocean.
- Jan 2019 – US Navy’s 7th Fleet for 2nd time carried out ‘temporary cargo transfer’ using Bandaranaiake International Commercial Airport to move supplies to US aircraft carrier USS John C Stennis located in Trinco (Colombo-Trinco connecting by air) US Military craft did not come under Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority but was landing on Sri Lankan soil & over Sri Lankan airspace & were levies paid or waivered – if an accident/crime happened who would adjudicate?
- 23 Jan 2019 US Embassy Colombo “The United States Navy is doing a cargo transfer operation at Sri Lanka’s main international airport under a plan to use the island’s location to make it a MILITARY LOGISTICS HUB”
- Jan2019 Commenting on the cargo transfer operation – 7th Fleet’s Logistics Readiness Cell Chief Lt. Austin Gage says “We are generating standard operating procedures to optimize our supply chain to be more agile and mobile and utilize strategic locations in the Indian Ocean.”
- USS John C. Stennis Leverages Logistics Hub in Sri Lanka – (US Navy website) https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=108052 September 2019 Taking advantage of a growing naval partnership with Sri Lanka, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) established a logistics hub in Sri Lanka to receive support, supplies and services at sea”
- Dec 2019 – USS John C Stennis visits Trinco Port as part of Pentagon’s plans to establish a logistics hub for US Navy. A Mass Communication Specialist on board USS John C. Stennis in a dispatch to the US Navy official web portal wrote: The primary purpose of the operation is to provide mission-critical supplies and services to U.S. Navy ships transiting through and operating in the Indian Ocean. The secondary purpose is to demonstrate the U.S. Navy’s ability to establish a temporary logistic hum ashore where no enduring U.S. Navy logistic footprint exists.”
- The primary purpose of the operation is to provide mission-critical supplies and services to U.S. Navy ships transiting through and operating in the Indian Ocean,” said Lt. Bryan Ortiz, John C. Stennis’ stock control division officer. The secondary purpose is to demonstrate the U.S. Navy’s ability to establish a temporary logistics hub ashore where no enduring U.S. Navy logistics footprint exists.”
SOFA allows US personnel rights & privilege in a host country
Status of Forces Agreement includes access to facilities free of charge, right to own and operate telecommunication systems and use of radio spectrum, waiver of claims for damages and losses including death, disputes to be settled by consultation and not through any national or international court.
SOFA establishes the rights and privileges of US personnel present in a country in support of the larger security arrangement.
Draft text of SOFA leaked via Sunday Times. Provisions in the SOFA include, the wearing of uniforms, taxes and fees, carrying of weapons, use of radio frequencies, licences, and customs regulations.
Washington was ‘pushing hard’ to sign SOFA which Pentagon traditionally demanded as pre-requisite to establishing military bases in foreign countries (M K Bhadrakumar Jul2019)
https://dailynewsteller.blogspot.com/2019/07/what-is-sri-lanka-and-usa-sofa-agreement.html
ACSA allows US logistics & supplies usage in a host country
Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA), the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) and Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC) are agreements integral to US national security and self-defense strategies
ACSA provides for joint military cooperation between Sri Lanka and the US and includes logistic support, supplies, services and the use of airports and ports during „unforeseen circumstances‟. ACSAs also allows visiting military forces to receive logistic support in the form of supplies; petroleum; transportation; base operations support; use of repair and maintenance facilities; and access to airfields and ports.
The 2007 ACSA required renewal but the 2017 ACSA signed by Ranil Govt & contents not disclosed to the Public or Parliament does not require renewal.
This would be the FIRST TIME foreign US/Allied troops would be permitted to freely roam the country in uniform, carrying weapons and communications equipment. Note IPKF was confined ONLY to war torn areas of North/East.
Sri Lanka has no authority to take any legal action against US troops in Sri Lanka for any crime or abuse committed by them.
While China’s presence in Sri Lanka and Hambantota Port, the US ACSA and SOFA are purely military for servicing US personnel (uniformed and civil) as well as contractors.
US PEACE CORPS
https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/18-226-Sri-Lanka-Cultural-Exchg-Peace-Corps.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2vNWXdZPzc6-7sxbtmhzxTx7gIynMsS72-Y3sLh6q1RHP50J42keBxFW4 (please read the exemptions and immunities given to the Peace Corps and what is Sri Lanka getting in return? Americanized English and ‘American values’?
Article 1 (4) The Government of Sri Lanka shall bear such share of the costs of the Peace Corps program incurred in Sri Lanka” HOW MUCH ?
MCC: AID as part of US National Security Strategy
ACSA Sri Lanka was signed on August 4, 2017
MCC is a US Government entity. Its Board is headed by the US Secretary of State and includes Secretary of the Treasury, USAID, US Trade Representative and private sector officials. MCC Grants are funded by US Congress.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is requesting $800 million for fiscal year (FY) 2019, to support compacts in Tunisia, Burkina Faso, and Sri Lanka……… This request will advance U.S. values and interests overseas”
Sri Lanka’s compact will focus on modernizing the country’s transportation and land management sectors. These interventions are aimed at reducing transport bottlenecks and congestion in the Western Province and between the Western Province and other regions; and optimizing the use of state lands for commercial purposes.”
We have explained that the Indo-Pacific Strategy is the name we give to US policy. It describes what we Americans strive to do to protect and advance a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific Region,” US Ambassador Randy Berry to Nepal on MCC.
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia David J Ranz, said that the Millennium Challenge Corporation(MCC) where the US has put $500 million in grant to Nepal is part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy
MCC part of US National Security Strategy – https://www.jstor.org/stable/25261924?seq=1
Foreign Aid component is a key component of a comprehensive US national security strategy and every bit important as investment in military power (Is the Millennium Challenge Corporation Overstating Its Impact by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Foreign Affairs. Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment)
Republican lawmakers (Paul Ryan’s FY2015 budget) and, more recently, by the Heritage Foundation—calls for scaling back or phasing out the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and elevating the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as the lead foreign assistance agency. https://www.cgdev.org/blog/should-trump-administration-cut-usaid-expand-mcc
https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/report/foreign-aid-congress-should-shift-usaid-funds-the-millennium-challenge (Congress should shift USAID funds to MCC proposal by Heritage Foundation)
ACSA signing was mooted by Prasad Kariyawasam who unknown to all was employed by the US federal government backed Agency for International Development (USAID) but working inside Sri Lanka’s Parliament.
M K Bhadrakumar says that US interference is ‘destabilizing’ Sri Lanka and that it is happening only because of ‘India’s passivity bordering acquiescence’ – it is unfortunate that India is going to be held accountable by Asia for destabilizing entire Asian continent.
WHAT IF family member end up working for MCC-PEACE CORPS in Sri Lanka & all are entitled to IMMUNITIES and TAX EXEMPTIONS?
Shenali Waduge
