Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias ‘Prachanda’ is now in the USA for the treatment of his spouse, Sita. There were suspicions that Prachanda could face stern penalty over human rights violation in the US in connection with the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006) that claimed over 16 thousand lives in Nepal.
The US government that had once labeled Prachanda-led CPN-Maoist party as a ‘terrorist’ outfit, facilitated Prachanda’s US visit this time. The two-time prime minister visited the US without any legal hurdles. It was only in 2012 that the US had delisted Maoists from its list of the global terrorist group.
Bringuel’s remarks cannot be ignored since he has the experience of over 27 years on investigative, research, and training. The retired FBI official is also a recipient of several awards for his investigative work including an Attorney General’s Citation for an organized crime investigation.
However, this does not mean that the US has sanctified Prachanda, according to Andrew Bringuel, II, a former Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) of the FBI. That means the leader of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), the biggest political party now heading the government in Nepal, is still under the scrutiny of the US security system.
Bringuel’s remarks cannot be ignored since he has the experience of over 27 years on investigative, research, and training. The retired FBI official is also a recipient of several awards for his investigative work including an Attorney General’s Citation for an organized crime investigation.
Among his involvement in some high profile cases, Bringuel was the first responder to the Eric Robert Rudolph abortion clinic bombing, a negotiator during the Montana Freemen barricade, and a first responder to the 9/11 Pentagon bombing — the biggest terrorist attack in the US history.
Not only Prachanda, George Washington, Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat, Bobby Rush, and others were members of the “terrorist groups” as defined by governments and later they held political office, he said.
Speaking exclusively with Khabarhub, this seasoned personality talked about the latest US treatment of Prachanda.
Regarding the US policy of giving Prachanda a clean sheet and facilitating his US visit, Bringuel states that the recent incident is a continuation of a long history of former terrorists who later ascend to high political office after giving up unlawful violence to further political or social objectives.
Not only Prachanda, George Washington, Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat, Bobby Rush, and others were members of the “terrorist groups” as defined by governments and later they held political office, he said.
According to Bringuel, they were defined as terrorists because they or their groups used violence against people or property to coerce a government or segment of a population in furtherance of political and social objectives.
However, later they or their group developed non-violent political means to achieve political and social objectives which were accepted in their respective countries. Bringuel said they ran and won through popular vote and got elected, and most retained some or all of their prior political and social ideology without the unlawful violence.
Some continued to use violence but now it was sanctioned through the state. As such, the US treatment of Prachanda, as suggested by Bringuel is not that different from the way other former terrorists who achieve political power are treated.
In Bringuel’s words, giving Prachanda a clean sheet by the US may not mean that he is out of the danger zone but that he is still under the preview of the US security mechanism. Or that the US is still studying his move and will continue to do so even as the party headed by Prachanda now leads the majority government in the federal republic of Nepal.
“Politics makes strange bedfellows. Like the meetings with Kim Jung-un, the US believes that you keep your friends close but your enemies closer,” remarks Bringuel.
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