theSun | TUESDAY OCTOBER 13 2009
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speak up!
No shame in US calling a retreat
by Eric S. Margolis
MANY Americans still support what
President Barack Obama called the
“good” war in Afghanistan. They con-
tinue to believe the 9/11 attacks came
directly from the Afghanistan-based
Al-Qaeda and Taliban movements.
Politicians and generals keep
telling the public, “We’ve got to fight
terrorists over there so we don’t have
to fight them here at home.”
This untruth simply ignores the
fact that the 9/11 attacks were planned
in Germany and Spain, and conducted
mainly by Saudis operating from the
United States whose aim was to pun-
ish America for supporting Israel’s
repression of the Palestinians.
Taliban, a militant religious, anti-
Communist movement of Pashtun
tribesmen, was surprised by 9/11
and knew nothing about it. Taliban
actually received US aid until May,
2001. The CIA was planning to use
Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda to stir
up Muslim Uighurs against Chinese
rule. Washington maintained good
relations with Taliban in hopes of
opening the way for oil and gas pipe-
lines from Central Asia.
In 2001, Al-Qaeda only numbered
300 members. Today, most have
been killed or are hiding in Pakistan.
Only a few remain in Afghanistan.
Yet Obama insists 68,000 or more US
troops must stay in Afghanistan to
fight Al-Qaeda and prevent extremists
from re-acquiring “terrorist training
camps”.
This claim, like Saddam’s non-ex-
istent weapons of mass destruction, is
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MCA leaders must reconcile
THE MCA is now headless. Its del-
egates have spoken: Datuk Seri Ong
Tee Kiat has lost the confidence of his
party as its president; while Datuk
Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has also lost in
his attempt to be reinstated as deputy
president.
While all these unhealthy verbal
“bouts” were going on, nobody within
MCA, not even its leaders realised that
“reconciliation” was a way to avert
the outcome of Saturday’s EGM.
Even if fresh party elections are
held, I am afraid the Chinese voters at
large have given up hope on MCA. It
is no longer relevant insofar as look-
ing after the interests of the Chinese
community is concerned. To the
Chinese voters, the leaders are only
keen on fighting and not keen to look
after us at the bottom.
The trouble started to brew when
some bright spark from Simpang
Rengam, Johor, decided, or was in-
stigated, to re-open the can of worms
regarding Chua’s sexual encounter.
But I seem to remember that this
person withdrew from pursuing the
matter, yet somehow the presidential
council was adamant. Its members
still wanted to retry Chua with the
aim of removing him to save the good
“image” of the party.
I would say Chua’s enemies had
failed miserably in their judgment of
the strength of Johor (my home state)
MCA, the strongest in Malaysia. To
prove this point, one has only to recall
the number of past MCA top cats from
other states who had parachuted into
“safe” constituencies in Johor to stay
in power. MCA should recognise this
fact that Johorean Chua is not some-
one you can easily push aside.
And now, what about the presi-
dent, Ong, who had the image of a
straight shooter, no-nonsense guy,
bent on eradicating corruption and
moving MCA to the forefront of Ma-
a handy slogan to market war to the
public. Today, half of Afghanistan is
under Taliban control. Anti-American
militants don’t need remote Afghani-
stan. They have ample obscure places
from which to operate in Africa and
Asia. The 9/11 attacks were planned
in apartments, not camps.
Which brings us to Obama’s
decision to expand the US-led war
in Afghanistan. Ironically, Obama
and his cabinet have been wrestling
with this crucial decision just as the
president was awarded the Nobel
Prize for Peace.
Obama must decide between
guns and butter. The US deficit for
this year will be US$1.2 trillion (RM4
trillion). Unemployment continues
to rise and the US dollar’s dramatic
decline threatens to destabilise world
financial markets.
After eight years of military opera-
tions costing US$236 billion (RM800
billion), Gen Stanley McChrystal,
the US commander in Afghanistan,
warns of “failure”, meaning defeat.
He openly called for 40,000 more
troops, directly challenging Obama’s
authority. There is already talk in
Washington of McChrystal running
for president against Obama.
Obama is under intense pres-
sure from flag-waving Republicans
to expand the war. The US media
and hawkish US national security
establishment are beating the war
drums. Official Washington worries
that the US cannot be seen to lose yet
another war, and this time to a bunch
of mountain tribesmen.
Israel’s influential supporters, in-
laysian politics? What he has been
accused of by some tycoon is not my
business, for to me, a man is innocent
until he is proven otherwise. So wait
for the outcome of that accusation
before we point fingers at Ong. What
is more pertinent to MCA and to all
Malaysians is he as transport minister
armed with the report by Pricewater-
houseCoopers, was on the verge of
carrying out his sacred duty of tracing
the culprits who siphoned, not the
millions, but billions of taxpayers’
money from the PKFZ project.
Some websites and political writ-
ers have spied a “third force” in the
MCA in the making. I would say this
“third force” is dead at birth because
God has a bigger plan
GOD has unique ways of shaping
man’s destiny – ways that our puny
minds sometimes find difficult to
understand.
Fate rewards some and punishes
others sometimes unfairly to our eyes.
Their efforts are decried and their fail-
ures redeemed in ways we ordinary
humans cannot fathom.
Obama gets the Nobel prize
prematurely, Isa Samad wins Bagan
Pinang with a thumping majority – vic-
tories which appear man-made and
contrived. After all, you can lobby for
titles and awards these days, and you
can persuade people to support you
especially when you are beloved. The
games that humans play, especially
politicians, are intricate and intriguing.
Always, they are inspired by the belief
that they are doing it for the people
they are destined to lead. So they
connive and contrive to make things
work.
But I believe God has a bigger plan.
Giving Obama and Isa their hearts’
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cluding many Congressional Demo- The bombing in Madrid and a multinational stabilisation force
crats, are demanding Obama send London, and conspiracy in Toronto, from Muslim nations. Good presi-
more US troops to Afghanistan. Israel were all horribly wrongheaded pro- dents, like good generals, know
wants to see the US seize Pakistan’s tests by young Muslims against the when to retreat.
nuclear arms, and threaten Iran Afghan War – not plots hatched by
from Afghanistan. Israel’s hard line Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Eric S. Margolis is a contributing
foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack editor to the Toronto Sun chain of
recently called Pakistan, Afghanistan Obama should just declare victory newspapers, writing mainly about
and Iraq the three principal threats to in Afghanistan, withdraw western the Middle East and South Asia.
Israel, setting off alarm bells among forces, and hand over security to Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
pro-Israel groups.
As the US sinks ever deeper into
the South Asian morass, Washington
is redoubling efforts to arm-twist
Pakistan into being more obedient,
and to widen the war against its own
independent-minded Pashtun tribes
– wrongly called “Taliban”.
Now, Washington is making a
ham-handed effort to use US$7.5 bil-
lion (RM25 billion) in new aid to bribe
Pakistan’s feeble, corrupt government,
to take control of military promotions,
and get a grip on Pakistan’s nuclear
arsenal. Pakistan’s soldiers are on the
verge of revolt.
US mercenaries and aircraft
are operating freely in Pakistan.
Washington is working on a new
fortified embassy in Islamabad for
1,000 personnel that many Pakistanis
believe will house their nation’s real
government.
Obama should admit Taliban is
not and never was a threat to the west;
that the wildly exaggerated Al-Qaeda
has been mostly eradicated; and that
the US-led war in Afghanistan is
causing more damage to US interests
in the Muslim world – now 25% of all
humanity – than Osama and his few
rag-tag allies.
MCA is a goner, unless Ong and
Chua bury their pride, shake hands in
sincerity, and promptly mend bridges
in full view of the CWC, and pass all
resolutions to return to status quo.
This is a fire fighting job as MCA is on
fire. They can do this with the bless-
ings of all right-thinking Chinese. If
that is done with expediency, I think
MCA can be saved and become even
stronger than before the March 2008
general election.
Will Ong and Chua reconcile,
for the sake of the silent majority,
please?
Membership No. WD 1800074
(since before May 13, 1969)
desire is the best way to extract from
them their best efforts. Putting them
in the glare of publicity and national
interest is destiny’s way of getting
them fully committed to the cause.
For Obama it is world peace, for Isa it
is political integrity.
For those of us who dream of the
good old days when integrity was pure
and honour uncontaminated, there is
hope of a paradise regained. For the
realistic and pragmatic among us who
are prepared to compromise along the
way, let’s hope we are guided by the
basic values inherent in your culture
and religion.
I believe that honesty and integrity
have a deep religious grounding and
it is this that must be propelled to the
forefront of national development.
The rakyat need to be continuously
reminded of and reeducated in basic
morality.
Halimah Mohd Said
Kuala Lumpur