The Wrong Lesson

One of the myths deposed by the Wikileaks US State
Department embassy cable cache is the notion of diplomacy as a benign
exercise above the fray of dirty dealing that takes place at the
National Security Administration or Central Intelligence Agency. With
the revelation of spying on UN officials, authorized by Secretary of
State Clinton, we note the continuity of malpractice
notoriously conducted under the previous White House by Secretary
Powell, with help from his long time associate from the Department of
Defense, Richard Armitage. As Deputy Secretary of State, Armitage was
responsible for outing undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame in
retaliation for her husband Ambassador Wilson’s refusal to go along with
the fraudulent Iraq WMD campaign promoted at the UN by Secretary
Powell. Apparently, Clinton learned something useful from that sordid
betrayal; unfortunately, it was the wrong lesson.

In May 2008, State Department envoys to the newly democratized state
of Bolivia — presided over by the first indigenous head of state, Evo
Morales — were busy arranging a coup. As reported by The Real News Network,
Bolivia deported the US ambassador for funding ruling class rebels
trying to overthrow Morales by violence and murder of his indigenous
supporters. At the Organization of American States summit
a year later, Latin American leaders made it clear to the new US
president that they were not going to tolerate further US interference
in their countries.

As President Obama and Secretary Clinton continue to block progress
on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we must
expect they will also continue running covert operations against leaders
and organizers of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Movement. With the
recommendation two days ago by the European Union Parliament that the
International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change be given a seat
at the table in UN climate change talks, those operations are likely
already underway.