Afghan Minister Lends Support to Craddock

Feb. 8 (EIRNS)—Lending his voice in support of Gen. John Craddock's secret memo—leaked through the German weekly Der Spiegel—to NATO military officials to target for killing of the Afghan drug lords, Afghan Counter Narcotics Minister General Khodaidad said in an interview that NATO troops in Afghanistan should find drug traffickers and "eliminate" them as they would Taliban militants and other insurgents battling the government.

"They are the same ... they are supporting terrorism in Afghanistan. They are working the same networks," Khodaidad said of traffickers and insurgents, both active in Helmand province, heartland of a huge opium industry, and a key battleground in the Taliban insurgency. "The person who has Kalashnikovs, the person who is carrying drugs from one place to another, the person who is controlling the convoys—they are supporting terrorism in Afghanistan," he said.

It is to be seen what treatment is meted out to Khodaidad, who holds graduate degrees from the Indian National Defense Academy, the India Ministry Academy, and the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. Craddock was labeled by British-instigated media as a cold-blooded killer whom the Europeans must shun.

By taking that position, some Europeans have wittingly or unwittingly endorsed the British plan, as laid out earlier by the former British defense secretary, Des Brown, when he branded the terrorists, insurgents, and drugrunners as a "Pushtun Nationalist Movement." What Brown omitted, is that the purpose of fueling the "Pushtun Nationalist Movement" with drugs and guns is to create a Greater Pushtunistan, a new nation carved out of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Sri Lanka Delivers a Swift Kick to the Seat of Britain's Pants

Feb. 13 (EIRNS)—Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse rejected British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's nomination of former defense secretary Des Browne as special envoy to Sri Lanka, as "a disrespectful intrusion in the country's internal affairs," thereby insuring that Browne will not be allowed into Sri Lanka.

The appointment of Browne to Sri Lanka, ostensibly to oversee humanitarian issues, was a desperate move by Her Majesty's Service to keep the Tamil Tiger insurgency within Sri Lanka alive. Having invested heavily in harboring and nurturing the Tigers for more than two decades against the Sri Lankan government (see "Britain's LTTE: Upended Tigers and Opium-Drugged Lions," EIR, Feb. 13, 2009), London is making a last-ditch effort to keep the Tigers active. In just over a year's campaign, the Sri Lankan Army, headed by Gen. Sarath Fonseka, has routed the heavily funded drug- and gun-running terrorist group, ostensibly seeking a separate homeland for the Tamils. According to available reports, the Sri Lankan Army will be able to run over the last 160 sq. kms of forest area, where about 15,000 Tiger warriors have been cornered.

A cross-section of the Sri Lankan leadership dismissed Brown's attempt as "British mumbo-jumbo," as reported by the Asian Tribune. The Sri Lankan leadership asserted that the British Prime Minister should be told that Sri Lanka is no longer a colony of Britain, but a sovereign, independent nation, and should be treated accordingly.

In the meantime, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said: "It is tantamount to an intrusion into Sri Lanka's internal affairs and is disrespectful to the country's statehood"; he added that "there could be major repercussions" for relations with Britain.

Thai Professor Denounces Monarchy, Calls for Republic

Feb. 10 (EIRNS)—Chulalongkorn Prof. Ji Ungpakorn, who was arrested in Bangkok for lèse majesté (an offense against the sovereign), had written numerous articles declaring the mob that took over the streets, Government House, and international airports over the past two years, to be a fascist gang under the control of the Army and the Monarchy. Ungpakorn has fled the country for London, recognizing that facing the Thai courts at this point is like arguing your case before Robespierre. Ungpakorn, who also holds a British passport, issued a manifesto in the Asia Sentinel, called for a republic as the only hope for Thailand.

Called the "Red Siam Manifesto," after the "Red Shirts" who are defending the deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his followers, Ungpakorn's document reflects his leftist bent (he is associated with the Socialist International); he has no idea of an economic program, but has said publicly what a growing majority of Thais believe quietly about the Monarchy. Some quotes:

"The enemies of the Thai people and democracy may have their army, courts and prisons. They may have seized and rigged parliament and established the government through crimes like the blockading of the airports and other undemocratic actions by the PAD [the fascist gang].... But their weakness is that they are united around an absurd and un-scientific ideology: the ideology of the monarchy. This ideology seeks to make Thais into groveling serfs. They want us to believe that an ordinary human being, just because of an accident of birth, can be transformed into a god, when the true abilities of the king are no different from millions of ordinary engineers, artists, farmers, or skilled workers."

Ungpakorn accuses the King, among other things, of having "allowed the army to stage a coup in September 2006. Furthermore he allowed his name to be used by the army, the PAD protestors, and the Democrat Party, in the destruction of democracy. He has been an advocate of economic views which reveal his opposition to state social welfare for the poor. But what is worse, as one of the richest men in the world, the King has the arrogance to lecture the poor to be sufficient in their poverty (through the notion of the Sufficiency Economy). Finally, this King allows his supporters to proclaim that he is "the father of the nation," and yet his own son [the Crown Prince] is not respected by anyone in Thai society!"