The most recent chapter in Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s legal troubles has been framed by the Western media as everything from a politically motivated witch hunt, to discrimination against homosexuality and a violation of “human rights.”
CNN would report in their article, “Malaysia court upholds sodomy conviction against opposition leader,” that:
Malaysia’s top court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on the charge of sodomizing a former political aide, prompting criticism from human rights activists.
The decision appeared likely to be the final chapter in a lengthy and politically contentious legal battle, taking Anwar out of contention for elections for the foreseeable future.
CNN also added:
After the court decision Tuesday, Anwar said he “will not be silenced,” vowing to continue to “fight for freedom and justice.”
“I will never surrender,” Anwar told CNN by phone, although he conceded that his task will be made a lot harder by the confines of a prison cell.
And Ibrahim’s vow to “fight for freedom and justice” was made with the confidence that this “fight” will be subsidized and fully backed by the US State Department, thus revealing the true motivations behind the Malaysian state’s lengthy attempts to remove him from the nation’s political landscape.
Enduring Treason, and Malaysia’s “Soft” Counterstroke
In reality, Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction is probably the most indirect approach Malaysia can use in handling a politician who is essentially guilty of immense and enduring treason against the nation’s sovereignty and national interests.
Also, in reality, the West’s feigned outrage over the violation of Ibrahim’s “human rights” is yet another example of foreign interests using nobler principles to couch their hegemonic, meddling agenda behind.
Malaysia has only been independent from British colonial rule for about a generation. It gained independence from the UK in 1957 but still remains part of its Commonwealth of Nations. Anglo-American interests, however, have remained entwined with Malaysia’s fate, unabated, as have attempts to steer Malaysia’s current course socially, politically, and economically.
As the West has done elsewhere, it has cultivated an opposition front in Malaysia to represent its interests. It has also spend immense amounts of resources, time, and energy to groom and install into power a client regime headed by Anwar Ibrahim himself.
This has manifested itself most recently as the so-called “Bersih” “clean and fair elections” street movement, which had initially claimed to be independent of any political party, but has since been revealed to be openly led by Ibrahim and his political party.
Bersih itself is also a construct of Western interests. Before it began widespread street protests, monkeying Western-backed “color revolutions” taking place elsewhere around the world, the US State Department’s National Democratic Institute (NDI) – a subsidiary of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) – openly documented its financial and political support for the group on its official website. In efforts to obfuscate this fact in fear that it would undermine Bersih’s legitimacy, US funding now goes undisclosed – ironically only garnering further suspicion amongst the more well informed in Malaysia and around the world.
Ibrahim himself has maintained close ties to Washington and Wall Street. Not only has his Bersih movement been fully backed by NED and its subsidiaries, but he himself was literally in Washington D.C. in person, attending various NED functions. This includes serving as a panelist for NED’s “Democracy Award” and a panelist at a NED donation ceremony – the very same US organization funding and supporting his Bersih street movement – casting irrefutable doubt on their official agenda for “clean and fair elections.”
Clearly, Ibrahim, his political party, and is street front are in actuality a singular US-backed political front seeking power in exchange for Malaysia’s sovereignty.
Corrupt, wealthy, mafioso politicians and business magnates in China are regularly arrested, charged, and put to death at breakneck pace. In comparison, the indirect methods Malaysia has used to undermine and remove Ibrahim and his foreign-backed political front from the nation’s political landscape is relatively tame.
Despite his enthusiastic vow to “fight” back, Ibrahim, it is suspected, will melt away politically and take with him his political front. Malaysia, in turn, must ensure that not only is Ibrahim fully and permanently removed from politics, but it must also expose and neutralize the tentacles of Western meddling reaching into Malaysia with which other political opposition members might attempt to interface.
In neighboring Thailand, the realization that its political problems are owed largely to Western meddling is becoming a more accepted mainstream talking point. The US’ unswerving support for dictator, mass murderer, and infinitely corrupt billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra has transcended normal international relations and diplomatic protocols, exposing a concerted effort by the US to manipulate and meddle in Thailand’s internal political affairs. Likewise, Malaysia suffers from such meddling. Likewise, this reality must become a mainstream talking point and that opposition parties, no matter how much they may oppose the current government, are obliged to but Malaysia’s sovereignty first.
Trading one unfavorable government for another, particularly one that answers to interests abroad, is leaping from the frying pan and into the fire.
Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine“New Eastern Outlook”.