Why does US send female envoys to Sri Lanka?
From September 2006 to 2024 (18 years) Sri Lanka was sent 6 envoys 4 of whom were female. The 7th envoy is to be another female. The 2 males were Robert Blake (2006-2009) and Atul Keshap (Aug 2015-Jul2018) We will leave out their sojourn in Sri Lanka & concentrate only on the female envoys! An uncanny knack shown by all envoys has been their arrogance as a result of the neo-con brainwashing during their diplomatic training & playing fiddle to their neocon mentors in the State dept. All the envoys are brought up to believe that the US is the emperor & they are the emperors envoys. They have elevated that role to function as neo-con governors now!
Patricia Butenis had served in Pakistan, San Salvador, El Salvador, India, Colombia. She took over as envoy to Sri Lanka after service as envoy in Bangladesh.
Butenis sparked controversy over her leaked cable that accused President Mahinda Rajapakse & the former army commander of war crimes without any evidence. While Butenis claims Sri Lanka is not investigating alleged crimes, Butenis did not explain why America’s illegal invasions & bombings were never investigated except proudly released as declassified documents decades later.
Butenis was replaced by Michelle Sison who served in Pakistan, Chennai, India, Ivory Coast, Cambodia, Benin. Togo & Haiti. As a senior career diplomat she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs, charged with providing broad policy oversight of U.S. relations with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal & Sri Lanka.
She currently serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, nominated by President Biden & approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee & sworn in on 21 December 2021.
Sison’s project in Sri Lanka was nurturing civil society groups and financing anti-Sri Lanka NGOs. $12m is allegedly to have gone to civil society groups such as the infamous Transparency International & CPA. Alongside civil society she eyed Sri Lanka’s media & journalists. It was during her tenue that CJ Bandaranayake was impeached and we can all recall the drama enacted by the BASL. Looking back, these antics all have hallmarks of US involvement.
When US envoys drum “accountability” sadly there is no politician with the pluck to ask where was the accountability for bombing a country on the fake evidence of “weapons of mass destruction” which could not be proved even after a decade of illegal occupation while killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians & creating a refugee exodus out of Iraq, convenient for the US to secure their presence & grab its oil!
Sison was envoy when US presented its 2nd Resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. She chose to pluck out a handful of deaths to downgrade the magnanimity of the humanitarian rescue operation that her governments armed forces cannot even dream of achieving. As with all envoys, their poodles become the TNA & lavish statements are released about devolution, giving government lands to those who cannot even present a land deed. Peddling enough pressure to make the politicians succumb & dish out land unfairly to those who never owned land in the areas they claim. Politicians end up agreeing to anything to get these envoys off their backs! At the other corner, was another female in Geneva who has now openly shown allegiance with the tigers. The dots of doubt are all now getting connected.
Sison was also involved in a twitter controversy over a photo tweet that showed herself with Stephen J Rapp US ambassador at large for war crimes issued with a caption “killing of hundreds of families by army shelling” Both were also seen posing with Ananthi Sasitharan whose husband was a LTTE leader & the world is asked to wonder what happened to that dead tiger and shed tears of empathy.
Other than both attempting to discredit Sri Lanka before the Geneva Summit, neither Sison nor Rapp had anything to substantiate their claims.
The ACSA agreement was signed under her watch in 2017.
Sison next attempted to get late Palitha Thewapperuma to blame the Aluthgama & Beruwala incidents on the then Rajapakse government. He answered her googlys, well aware that she was fishing for any type of statement to present “communal riots” so she could take the baton to the world. We must appreciate late Thewapperuma’s responses choosing to put country before party & clearly told the envoy that there was no political problem & that he intervened only because both Sinhalese & Muslims had voted for him. When all else failed, she said that US would look after him if there was a threat to his life! He also informed Sison that 26 houses of Sinhalese were damaged though attacks or discrimination against the Sinhalese is never highlighted and is not part of diplomatic dossiers.
Sison’s name also came up when Resettlment Minister Guneratne Weerakoon claimed she offered him a bribe of a green card & a house in America & scholarships for his kids if he removed the army from the North. This is how US is buying allegiance of Ministers! Who else are in their pockets accepting these goodies! With this bribe she flew back to US where she was appointed Deputy Ambassador to the UN under Samantha Power.
Next came Alaina Teplitz
Is it a coincidence that all these US envoys are landing in Sri Lanka after stints as envoys in Nepal. All the envoys were well versed in the politics of South & Central Asia. Teplitz served in Bangladesh, NATO Mission, EU Mission, Belgium, Mongolia, Nepal from 2015-2018 & thereafter Sri Lanka from 2018-2021. She now serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for Administration since December 2021.
We can recall the startling turn of events when ex-US-embassy staffer Omar Rajarathnam exposed US hypocrisy on preaching importance of women’s empowerment while local female staffers are harassed by white American diplomats at the US embassy.
While Sison got ACSA signed, the baton of passing MCC was given to Teplitz.
Regime change took place in 2015 with both India & US jointly involved in ousting Mahinda Rajapakse & replacing a puppet Sirisena with intent to place Ranil as executive Prime Minister. That didn’t go to plan.
It was the Sunday Times that exposed intricate details of the ACSA with the US envoy Keshap giving orders to sign agreement without publicity & in secrecy. ACSA was pushed locally by none other than Mangala Samaraweera then foreign minister. SOFA signing was also on the cards. It was passed without the armed forces commanders observations. The name of Prasad Kariyawasam & his duplicitous role is also noteworthy in the manner he passed ACSA through Cabinet, Though Sirisena was chosen as US-India puppet, Sirisena directed not to sign SOFA. The role of Karu Jayasuriya as Speaker speaks volumes as well.
Teplitz not only interfered in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs but she went on to attack China as well. The Chinese embassy however was prompt to accuse the US envoy of violating diplomatic protocols. Little does she know that Sri Lanka & China had been having relations hundreds of years before US was even created! America with a history of just 228 years cannot be dictating how countries should deal with each other!
With each female envoy the intrusions & interference in internal affairs flouting all Geneva Diplomatic protocols got worse. The last envoy took the cake! Julie Chung has to her credit bypassed all diplomatic protocols & tore to shreds what diplomats are expected to do & behave in a foreign state. She has without doubt turned herself into a modern Mrs.John D’Oyly.
All US envoys were sent to hold the red cards & chirp “good governance” “transparency” “minority rights” “media freedom” “military out of North” “devolution” “No China” and to this list the US has now added “gender equity & transgenderism” – so clearly, their next project is to attack & destroy Sri Lanka’s culture, break up the institution of marriage & family and create a new target group for the Big Pharma industry. Notice to key bills US has drafted – NGOs & the Gender Equity/Women Empowerment Bills. Both earmarked to destroy Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage. For lack of a history or heritage of their own, the American hobby is to destroy ancient cultures, history & heritage of others!
While US & India do more business with China it is baffling why US & India insists Sri Lanka cuts off relations with China? Has either nation helped Sri Lanka in the manner China has?
Chung took over bang on time for another US-India regime change in 2022 immediately after the departure of another State Dept hawk, who probably arrived to review the plans in place for what became known as the 2022 aragalaya. It was no “natural” protest and had all the hallmarks of USAID, NED, NRI, IRI and RAW. When many of the main characters were seen posing with the envoy or joining her for tea, it became a dead giveaway. We have to hand it to her, she even aspired to shred Sri Lanka’s constitution, throw it to the bin & place the Speaker on the mantle. Plan A was an Iraqi type of cut & paste plan. Eventually they had to settle for Plan B when their historic poodle found himself back on the saddle. Thereafter, getting more poodles to declare bankruptcy, placing some more on leadership roles, dancing & drinking at cricket matches with the opposition – she’s done it all. There’s little new terrain her successor can venture into other than hold the cane against Sri Lanka. Chung successfully used her charm & the cane simultaneously. Apart from one or two MPs no other members of the Opposition or Government wished to put her in her place because that would have resulted in them seeing the door! So for most, self came before Nation.
Obviously, Chung is not leaving without more drama. Her visit to the Election Commission was another blatant interference though the “independent” Commissioner claims it was for only a “chat”. Are both this jobless!
Needless to say Chung will be crowned for all of the debacles she successfully plotted in Sri Lanka, leaving little terrain for her successor to venture. To her credit, she marshalled the traitors of Sri Lanka in the Parliament, in academia, amongst media, amongst professionals & their organizations, in the Public Sector, among so-called “transparent” civil society & NGOs, she even penetrated the forces & police and sadly she succeeded to manipulate the very branches of those tasked to uphold the rule of law & justice without a whim of protest from them! Kudos to Mrs. D’Oyly and boos to all the traitors who are ruining this glorious nation.
Shenali D Waduge
