Anwar Ibrahim's Meeting with Richard Haas Raises Serious Concerns

Anwar Ibrahim's Meeting with Richard Haas Raises Serious Concerns

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's meeting last week with Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations raises significant questions on his objectivity regarding the politics of the Middle East.

Haas, it must be remembered was an influential member of George H. W. Bush's administration, an administration that practiced unilateral expansionary tactics in the Middle East, in its quest to control the oil-fields of the region.

He continued to serve as the Director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Colin Powell during George W Bush's presidency, and was influential in the decision taken to wage an illegal war in Iraq that has killed millions of innocent civilians to date.

Of course, Haas sings a different tune in today's context. In his new book War of Necessity, War of Choice, he insists he did not agree with the invasion of Iraq and the justifications for it. Nevertheless, Haas' insincerity is reflected by him affirming in previous interviews that he believed that Saddam Hussein did indeed have weapons of mass destruction, something the whole world knows today to be untrue.

It is also important to note that Haas is an advocate of altering the traditional concept of state sovereignty, and has written about how a nation's independence must be conditional. In other words, he believes that external forces can be allowed to influence how a state is managed if its administration is not adhering to the whims and fancies of the United States:-

(http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/02/21/2003294021)

The inability of Datuk Seri Anwar to keep his meetings at ‘high' places a low key affair due to his compulsive need for attention helps to illustrate his hypocrisy. On one hand, he continues to engage members of the pro-war American political elite while on the other; he persists in making half-hearted statements about peace in the Middle East.

Whilst Datuk Seri Anwar' inconsistency on serious issues is habitual, it is his addiction to foreign support that I find dangerous and irresponsible. His choice of meeting partners in the United States raises serious questions about his connections in the United States and how those connections play a role in destabilising the nation to ensure the success of his ongoing campaign to become Prime Minister.

YB Dato' Mukhriz Tun Mahathir
MP Jerlun
28th September 2009