The double standards of leaders when they are in and out of power. A sad story of politicisation of popular slogans.
Mahathir urges Arab countries to use oil as a weapon against US
(Updated at 2120 PST)
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's outspoken former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad urged oil-producing Arab countries in comments published Sunday to use oil as a weapon to fight US oppression.
In an interview with the Malay-language daily, Mingguan Malaysia, Mahathir also said the countries should withdraw their huge financial reserves deposited in the United States so as to bankrupt the country.
"Arab countries have oil and it can be used as a weapon. Besides that they keep a large amount of money in the United States. If we take out the money, the US can go bankrupt," he was quoted as saying.
Mahathir also criticised suicide bombings as means of struggle, saying they did not produce any results.
"What do we get from it? Does it have any impact? They (the US) will get angry. In the end, Muslims are killed when they invade Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.
"If they (suicide bombers) kill soldiers, it is alright, but the problem is those who are killed are the public," he said.
Malaysia currently chairs the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement.
He led this mainly Muslim nation for 22 years before retiring last October and has voiced a series of scathing attacks on US foreign policy.
In the past he has strongly criticised the United States for its unfair policies in the Middle East, which he claims favour Israel. Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
The former prime minister warned that if the US withdrew from Iraq now, it would not leave behind peace, even if Iraqis were in power. "They have disturbed the beehive," he said.
He said though that he did not expect the United States to leave Iraq after June 30, the deadline for the return of sovereignty.
"I think the US will not hand over power because its troops continue to remain in the country. Any government that rules the country will be under the influence of the US army," he said.
However, he had quite a different recipe for Malaysia!His actions whilst in power are interesting; I would highlight one that is in sharp contrast to his present call!
"Good dictators are what some countries need¦" affirms Mahathir Mohamad, who had been Malaysia's Prime Minister since 1981 until last year. Kuala Lumpur's ex- authoritarian leader, who defends "Asian values", as opposed to "Western democracy," has been using and abusing press laws and the Internal Security Act in order to silence the media.
For his nation whilst he was in power it was not boycott but progress through integration and creation of a tolerant society where different religions and races could co-exist. Mahatir vision was global integration..;; he opened Petronas Towers uniquely designed by an American Cesar Pelli, former dean of Yale University's School of Architecture, Petronas Tower for his nation were symbol of progress and integration. The criterion was different! It was American architects and even Hollywood help to put Malaysia on the global stage. Petronas the steel and glass architectural marvel that gained international fame through a Hollywood movie, "Entrapment", starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones,.
Petronas symbolized how far the country had come from a country of padi fields and tin mines to one on the verge of industrialization. Costing a whopping US$1.2bn and uniquely designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates, it rises to 1,483ft (451.9m) in height and is all of 33ft higher than the Sears Tower. Cesar Pelli, former dean of Yale University's School of Architecture, also designed Canary Wharf in London, and the World Financial Center in Manhattan, New York City.
In 2001, close relations of Mahatir Mohamad bought out some independent newspapers earmarked for the Chinese community, to censor them more closely. Foreign magazines are continuously banned from news kiosks. In January 2003, the police seized the computers of the on-line independent daily newspaper Malaysiakini.com. One of its contributors has been behind bars since April 2001.
This call of boycott will definitely bring him lot of cheap popularity in the Islamic world but it would not help to heel the wounds that need to be addressed. It is only like pouring petrol on fire |
