15 Dec By Brad Jackson
As a kid I remember reading one of the classics of children’s literature, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, which started out with the famous line, “I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” These days that book could be rewritten to reflect upon Anwar Ibrahim’s awful 2010. Although it would most assuredly not be a children’s book.
WikiLeaks has been the year’s most enthralling controversy, complete with leaked information that was only supposed to be viewed by the most special of people crowded in the halls of intelligence communities across the world. Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim may wish that Julian Assange had never released those cables, as it may have just blown the cover on his secret plan to use his latest sodomy trial as a political wedge, no matter how strange that may seem.
An intelligence source in Singapore indicates in some of the WikiLeaks material that Anwar Ibrahim’s most recent sodomy charge (his second in nearly 10 years), was in fact a “set-up job” and that Anwar knowingly walked into the trap.
From the Malaysian Insider:
The cable that dealt with Anwar’s sodomy case was dated November 2008 and said: “The Australians said that Singapore’s intelligences services and [Singaporean elder statesman] Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar ‘did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted’.”
ONA stands for Australia’s Office of National Assessments.
The document also stated the Singaporeans told ONA they made this assessment on the basis of “technical intelligence”, which was likely to relate to intercepted communications, the newspaper said.
“ONA assessed, and their Singapore counterparts concurred, ‘it was a set-up job and he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway’,” the cable states.
Anwar’s reaction has been what can only be expected from a man of his dubious history, and perhaps unstable mental status — he has threatened legal action against any Malaysian media outlets that run stories related to the WikiLeaks cables. Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyer, Sankara Nair, said the intelligence reports were nothing more than “hearsay and conjecture,” and insisted that the papers be cited for contempt.
One has to ask the obvious question, why would Anwar Ibrahim have knowingly walked into a trap that implicates him in yet another sodomy charge? Did Anwar spring the trap in hopes that it would elevate his profile, and, at least in the long-run, turn out to be a political positive for his career? That may just be the answer and, if so, illustrates the lengths to which Anwar Ibrahim will go in order to regain power and control in Malaysia.
The other possibility is that, despite all his public protestations to the contrary, Anwar Ibrahim just cannot control his passions, and, no matter the consequences, must embrace each carnal temptation that comes his way.
Of course this is only the latest in a string of no good, very bad incidents Anwar Ibrahim has had during 2010 which included a necessary “apology tour” abroad to mollify some of the outrage over his incomprehensible assertions that the Malaysian government was “backing the Jewish lobby in the US and some parties inside Israel.”
Anwar also lashed out at Israel, and the U.S., after the Israelis stopped the flotilla filled with weapons headed to Gaza, even leading angry mobs in protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Anwar Ibrahim declared:
“Israelis are able to continue with their aggression because of the soft position taken by the [American] president.” Three days later, in the Malaysian Parliament, he said, “Israel wouldn’t dare to attack the flotilla and set up blockades in Gaza without the support of America.”
Anwar seeks possible new elections as his saving grace, and perhaps his opportunity to exploit the sodomy “set-up”, but recent power struggles within his own party have put that in jeopardy. Anwar Ibrahim’s opposition party, PKR, was supposed to sweep him into power two years ago, but failed to do so. As their leader, he has sought to position PKR to make good on his earlier promises and unseat Prime Minister Najib Razak, but, in tune with the rest of his bad year, Anwar’s party has been rocked by dissent, bickering and constant battles between internal rivals. One of those PKR rivals, Zaid Ibrahim, a popular political leader in his own right, had challenged for the PKR’s Deputy President post, but pulled out “citing various election discrepancies.” I can only imagine that “various election discrepancies,” probably refers to one of those old Chicago-style elections that were determined long before anyone began voting.
Zaid Ibrahim left PKR and has built a new party, Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia, or AKIM, where he will surely prove to be a thorn in the side of Anwar Ibrahim with probable elections in 2011 nearing.
Anwar Ibrahim’s inflammatory and offensive rhetoric against the global Jewish community, his criticism of the United States, and his inescapable sodomy trial have not provided him with the 2010 he had probably hoped for just 12-months ago. The question is, with a decision in his trial and a likely rocky election in Malaysia soon, can 2011 be any better for Anwar, or is he only going to continue his downward spiral from 2010?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
No comments:
Post a Comment