Beware the Neddas!

The revolutionary Aragalaya is seen as a symbol of unity, creativity and political enlightenment, above all its spirit began to spread nationwide with vigour

The Aragalaya brought to the fore an interesting class of people, small in numbers but certainly effective, at least in terms of delivering the deliverables for which their bosses reward them one way or another. All countries have had such people, Sri Lanka included. Given the circumstances of their current manifestation they could be called ‘NEDdas.’

I’ve derived ‘NEDdas’ from ‘National Endowment for Democracy.’ It has not entered the political lexicon, but it ought to, considering the fact that NEDdas were in the thick of things over the past few months or rather were thrust into the thick of things after careful and long preparation over several years. Before we get to NEDdas. We need to get to NED and to do that we need to understand the machinations of the US government and relevant agents.

Whenever the USA proposes democracy or gets teary about human rights, countries that are the intended beneficiary of largesse need to worry. This is not because democracy is a bad thing; it is not. It is not because human rights need not be upheld; they need to be. It is all about what these terms portend when uttered by the USA.  

As is abundantly clear to any serious student of the USA and as has been pithily argued by Noam Chomsky in ‘What Uncle Sam really wants,’ Washington doesn’t give two hoots about democracy, human rights, peace or other such lofty ideals. Washington has supported and still supports military juntas, theocracies, monarchies, dictatorships and other forms of totalitarian regimes marked by intolerance, violent crushing of dissent and blatant violation of human rights. Not surprising considering the absolute mockery of democracy and human rights in the USA itself, from back in the day to this very moment.

The terms have currency only when Washington has to deal with regimes or leaders not willing to comply with US diktat. The USA still does the guns-in-booty-out number but where this is not possible, other means have to be employed. If countries need to be destabilized to get rid of unfriendly leaders or governments and if naked force is not an option for whatever reason subterfuge becomes the default Plan B. The CIA moves in.

The CIA has got such a bad reputation, though, that US subterfuge needed a different name, a different lexicon and people wearing different clothes, especially after Congress forbade the agency to organize coup d’état to secure markets. That’s when the White House and National Security Council moved in to get around the problem. That’s how the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was set up.

The four key subsidiaries of NED (National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, American Centre for International Labour Solidarity and the Centre for International Private Enterprise), gives it wide operative space and the requisite vocabulary yielding a civilizational veneer that can entrap the gullible (we are being kind here). Its founder, Alan Weinstein wasn’t that cute — he called it the Second CIA way back in 1991.
So Washington funds NED, NED creates programs and outsources it to local NGOs in targeted countries who are tasked to create molehills, turn them into mountains, create or precipitate the creation of objective preconditions where none exist or exploit such that do exist to manufacture and nurture popular dissent. Typically, the envisaged end, despite rhetoric about system-change, is replacement of a government or leader refusing to play ball with Washington by a leadership that is amenable to the advancement of US strategic interests.

 Today, it is well known that the NED helped disintegrate the Society Union and was in the thick of political changes (not system change) in Georgia, Serbia, Ukraine and the uprisings dubbed ‘Arab Spring’ but which produced an endless and terrifying winter, paradoxically, in the Middle East. Venezuela knows of NED involvement.  It’s not hard to find which countries the NED has funded, which kinds of regimes were targeted and which supported and their relevant loyalties or otherwise to the USA. It is easy to see whether NED-supported groups and governments were or exemplify purported NED-values.

NED is convenient. The name itself disarms the ignorant and gullible. Those in the know are clearly beneficiaries as organizations or individuals and as such are willing pawns in Washington’s designs. They can claim, as some have, ‘No, we never got US funds.’ Indeed, one such individual who would have people believe he is in the, or is ‘the epicentre of the Aragalaya (one wonders what other ‘epicenterists’ would have to say to this claim), when confronted with evidence of involvement with NED, backtracked and tried the age-old diversionary tactic — ‘Alright, yes, but what’s wrong with things like voter-education, eh?’ Others could ask, ‘what’s wrong with democracy, human rights etc.?’  A simple counter-question would suffice to floor them all: ‘to what end, really, brother?’

Anyway, the condescension is insufferable. The assumption is that Sri Lankan voters are ignorant and need democracy-tuition. Second, there’s a pernicious twisting of all norms of democracy; constitution and popular will as expressed through the ballot are brushed aside in favour of manufactured and exaggerated popular dissent followed by tacit withdrawal of support for agitation the moment the preferred political outcome is obtained. Third, typically, the track records of the agents roped in make dismal reading.  It is easy after all to identify reasonably intelligent people with chips on their shoulders (which usually has nothing to do with ideological or political bent but about some simmering element of self-doubt or bruised egos) and cultivate them to be deployed at the right time. Yes, the NEDdas.

Now the NEDdas. could say (and they have) ‘it doesn’t matter who gives money as long as the job is done.’ Well, that’s an end-justifies-the-means argument. Regardless, if anyone doesn’t care about what this ‘job’ is all about, has no clue and doesn’t care about history and the ways in which NED has operated and for what kind of goals, then such people aren’t really serious about system-change. If NEDdas don’t care whether or not money is channelled by or through murderers, sackers of cities and other thugs, then of course they are seriously value-challenged. Should be noted.  They, in fact, are doing a job. Hatchet job, one might say.

 It’s all about the Golden Rule — he who owns the gold, makes the rules. I wouldn’t call people innocent or naive for not taking the trouble to find out what’s what; I call them irresponsible and dangerous. They charter agitation to waters into which the bad ship ‘US Interests’ can sail in without obstacle. They don’t give a hoot about Sri Lanka. The only Sri Lankans they do care about are themselves.

 NEDdas are easily identified. One could check the organizations that NED funds, for starters. One could check NEDdas’ positions (what they promote, who they condemn — countries included) and compare with NED ‘prerogatives.’

 NEDdas; they need watching. Especially by all the hundreds and thousands who with pureness of heart and idealistic fervour about forging a different kind of nation with truly representative and democratic institutions and processes have their all to the Aragalaya. There will be hundreds and thousands of other who will walk this path. They too will have their dreams blown up in their faces by NEDdas of the future.
[email protected]