Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake got up on the floor of Parliament today and gave a powerful speech. In it, he announced that his government refused a request from the White House to use Sri Lanka as a place for two military planes carrying weapons and ammunition meant for Iran.
Sri Lanka is located in the Indian Ocean, near the coast of Southeast India.
It’s about the same size as West Virginia.
According to The New York Times, the request from the U.S. came two days before Trump started his illegal war.
At the time, Sri Lanka was still looking into the request when the bombing began. In the end, they refused it and chose to stay neutral.
The U.S. made its request at the same time Sri Lanka was considering an offer from Iran to host three of their warships in Sri Lankan waters.
Sri Lanka turned that down too. However, they are currently helping the survivors of an Iranian warship that was hit by a torpedo near their coast, as well as an Iranian frigate that had engine trouble. They are choosing to respect human rights and dignity, even though it might upset Trump.
This shows real courage.
Sri Lanka has a population of about 22 million people and is standing up to the world’s worst bully. They must have known that saying no to Trump could lead to a lot of crazy retaliation from a very angry president. But they still chose the path of peace.
This is the kind of decision that history will remember.
Trump’s war is one of the most evil and useless in history. He started it on behalf of Israel and is now killing men, women, and children with no clear goal and no end in sight. The countries that helped him will be judged harshly by future generations. Those like Sri Lanka, who stood firm, will be completely right in their choice.
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