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From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Sat Jul 24 2010 - 04:13:57 EDT
Anwar Ibrahim and the Bush Neocons
Tag it:Written by Our Correspondent
Friday, 16 July 2010
A Washington, DC NGO bares some awkward questions for Malaysia's opposition
leader
A 42-page report by a Washington, DC-based whistle-blower organization is
proving a major embarrassment for Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim
by alleging that the Foundation for the Future, which Anwar headed for a
time in the middle of the last decade, was actually established and funded
by the US Department of State at the behest of Elizabeth Cheney, the
daughter of then-Vice President Dick Cheney, and the Bush administration's
neoconservatives.
The Government Accountability Project report, titled The Foundation for the
Future: What FOIA Documents Reveal, and released July 8, is based on
hundreds of documents delivered to the organization under the US Freedom of
Information Act. It says the Foundation for the Future was established and
operated in a "highly irregular manner" by Bush administration officials
and employees including Shaha Riza, the girlfriend of Paul Wolfowitz, who
was forced to leave the World Bank after it became known that he had
promoted Riza to triple the World Bank's salary guidelines. The full report
can be found here.
Ostensibly, matching money to fund the Foundation for the Future was
supposed to come from 11 countries led by Qatar at US$10 million, and
Bahrain, with another US$2 million. Jordan was to put up another US$1
million, Turkey US$500,000 and the rest was to be scattered among several
European Union countries including Denmark, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands
and the European Union itself. But neither Qatar nor Bahrain ever came
through. Of the US$22.26 million pledged, only about US$6.4 million ever
materialized. The rest apparently was made up from US State Department
funds.
Anwar has previously disavowed any US funding of the organization,
established in 2005 as "an essential front on the global war on terror" and
part of President George Bush's "freedom agenda" to promote democracy and
reform in the Middle East and Africa. Anwar served as chairman and acting
president of the organization's board in the period when he was out of
politics following his incarceration on corruption and sexual perversion
charges.
The Government Accountability Project report lends considerable ammunition
to Anwar's opponents in the United Malays National Organization, who have
long charged that Anwar was connected to the US Central Intelligence
Agency, although neither the CIA nor the US government as a whole has ever
exhibited any particular desire to bring down the Malaysian government, and
in fact considers Malaysia, as a moderate Muslim democracy, to be one of
its staunchest allies in the region.
In particular, UMNO Youth Chief Kairy Jamaluddin called attention to
Anwar's statements disavowing US funding of the foundation and demanded
that Anwar explain himself. He accused Anwar of misleading the US
government in a memorandum of understanding saying the foundation had
agreed to get other countries to commit funds to match those the US
government was providing.
"For me, it is a serious matter that the opposition leader has tried to
mislead the US government to get grants for a foundation that he was
chairman of," Khairy told the Malaysian newspaper The Star.
An Anwar associate said the opposition leader would decline to comment,
adding that there was little to be gained by saying anything about the
matter. Nonetheless, he characterized Anwar's role as blameless.
"There is nothing wrong going on," he said. "This is part of the campaign
to get Wolfowitz out of the World Bank and to do so they threw Anwar under
the bus."
The report characterizes the Foundation for the Future as part of a vast
and tragic misconception among the Bush administration neoconservatives,
particularly Wolfowitz, that a slight push – the elimination of Iraqi
strongman Saddam Hussein from power – would result in a dramatic change
in the Middle East. That of course has resulted in the deaths of more than
4,000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and a
realignment in the Middle East that nobody in the west wanted – the
growing power of Iran in the region and particularly in Iran's influence
over the Iraqi government itself.
But the Foundation from the start appears to have been a mess, according to
the report. It apparently was the brainchild of Shaha Riza, who was
seconded from the World Bank by Wolfowitz to run it. As has been widely
reported, Riza's salary increases during external service far exceeded
those allowed under World Bank regulations, Wolfowitz allegedly instructed
the Department of Human Resources to pay her three times the allowable
increase for her grade and circumstances, so that she ended up making more
money that Condoleezza Rice, her nominal superior, by about US$7,000,
according to the report.
The foundation's first president, an Iraqi named Bakhtiar Amin, who had
served in the new interim government set up following the invasion, quit
after a short time on the job because "he was not up to the task." It
appeared that the entire foundation pretty much consisted of Shaha Riza.
There was no chief financial officer or chief operations officer.
The Washington Post reported at the time that "Though Shaha Riza, who has
been romantically linked to Wolfowitz, is not listed as part of the staff
on the organization's Web site, she is the only person working in the
group's offices. ‘It is basically just her running this thing,' said
Tamara Cofman Wittes, research fellow at the Brookings Institution Saban
Center for Middle East Policy, who closely tracks democracy programs in the
region. She said the board members had no experience in grant-making and
thus had ‘started from zero,' with no bylaws or grant-making guidelines."
When Anwar was ultimately selected as board chairman, according to the
report, it appeared that it was more because Anwar was a friend of
Wolfowitz's rather than for any other reason. "Anwar Ibrahim…was not from
the region, and the tactics used to position him as the chair were not
transparent," the report continued.
Ultimately, the report says, less than half of the $60 million in initial
funding for the Foundation (as envisioned by Elizabeth Cheney) ever
materialized, and the major proportion of funding came from the United
States, in violation of the spirit of the legislation creating the
institution. The "great multilateral effort…devolved into a unilateral US
initiative supported only by Jordan and a smattering of European nations.
And the organization that was promoted as a "model" and "beacon of
inspiration for the democratic development of the societies in which it
operates" represented little more than a nest of sinecures for those people
closest to the Vice President: his daughter Liz, Wolfowitz's girlfriend
Shaha Riza and Wolfowitz's favored friend from Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim."
The report ends up by questioning whether the US State Department's
representation that Qatar would stump up US$10 million was deliberately
perpetrated to circumvent requirements in US law regarding contributions to
a Middle East Foundation, whether US law was violated by Shaha Riza's
secondment to the State Department, whether future support for the
Foundation is even appropriate, and whether the state Department abused
freedom of information law by inappropriately classifying documents in an
effort to hide them from whistle-blowers.
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written by T , July 24, 2010
/// written by myrayza , July 20, 2010
Why is it always Anwar? Why are people so scare of him? There are other
Malaysians too my friend... ///
Because he is the ultimate chameleon - unprincipled and change his tune to
suit his audience. He forgot that this is the internet age where what you
say instantly goes round the world. He plays both sides and plays both
ends...
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +1
What is the difference
written by Boothan , July 21, 2010
the Malaysian Government is blowing billions enriching themselves and their
friends-Are malaysian happy??? Thieves can get away-Thieves and Police are
friends-when Malaysia Collapses -who suffers-Taib has o[ptions like all
Malaysian Politicians-they have money everywhere.....support Anwar or
anyone and get rid of CORRUPT UMNO.
Malaysia needs help from everywhere to be rid of an oppressive government
which supports corruption!!
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +1
Washington Times and Post are different-the former is small compared to
latter
written by Hang Jebat , July 21, 2010
The Malaysian Government buys space from the Washington Times(WT). No way
will the Washington Post support a dictatorial government like UMNO and
Barisan Nasional-know to be oppressive and corrupt.The Washington Times is
owned vy Reverend Moon from Korea and is Republican supporter.Millions were
paid to show Naibs face and his wife Ms Piggy.All this at the cost of
malaysian taxpayers sadly.
Dont beieve that any article came from the Washington Post that supports
Najib-he is paying through his nose with malaysian Funds to have
credibility.Too many malaysian all over the world do not support UMNO or
their policy of racial discrimination-that is why they left and they now
read the Washington Post!!!!
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +0
Malaysian Lack Commonsense and should be on Trees
written by Caveman , July 21, 2010
Malaysians must defend Anwar. Its is not about Anwar Ibrahim.Its about
democracy. Its about the Rule of Law.Its about Transparency, the Human
Right to be Treated Equally, the Right to Speak in dissent, the Right to
Assemble Freely.
All those who talk about Anwar in the article deragotarily are either paid
by the Malaysian Government or talking through their bottoms. The Anwar's
episode is about a Clean and Honest Judiciary. How stupid Malaysian can be
when they dont see the point? Are they happy that there is no opposition?
That there be a racist, undemocratic UMNO running the show with those
Chinese and Businessmen running after the former for contracts ( selling
their sould to the devil?) Get real and support the move to ADD PLURALITY
to Malaysian Illiberal Democracy-Look at the Millionaires and Billionaires
in malaysia , all at the expense of honest Malays, Chinese and Indians-even
the Penan ( indigenous people-real bumis) are being RAPED!!
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +2
Anwar anwar anwar..
written by myrayza , July 20, 2010
Why is it always Anwar? Why are people so scare of him? There are other
Malaysians too my friend...
report abusevote downvote upVotes: -1
Anwar and his DUMB supporters!!, Lowly rated comment [Show]
...
written by Tronoh Arlington Boy , July 18, 2010
I've read the Washington Post article earlier and another one on him on the
National Review Online before this piece came out. Personally, I don't
think our government could've afforded to buy any of those newspiece,
especially not on the Washington Post anyways. Over here in the States,we
all know where the Washington Post is aligned with and the Malaysian govt
is not exactly high up on their favored nation list anyways.
My theory is Anwar's so-called friends have had enough of him. They now
know he is a double dealing politician and after 10+ years is undoubtedly a
political washout. How Anwar could expect they to continue bankroll him
after stabbing those guys in the back (no pun indended!) is beyond me. He
might have fooled some of the Malaysian public but to think he can wear the
zionist bashing hat and be sponsored by them at the same time? He must have
been an absolute moron.
To me he has lost it way before this. To fraternize with Wolfowitz (the
perpetrator of the Iraq war) alone would have made his claim hollow among
the Malay Muslim supporters. But to be reported going to Washington
groveling...no reasons can be enough to justify that. As mentioned by
previous commentators, he is definitely a self serving duplicitous goon who
would sell anything to get power. He is no longer relevant and should
retire himself to save whatever of his self respect that he has left.
Unfortunately I don't think this wil happen and there will always be morons
like Teddy Bear to support him.
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +9
Just own up and be irrelevent, Anwar! Its time to help the opposition by
retiring!
written by Extraordinary Rendition , July 17, 2010
It mustn't be forgotten that once upon a time and not so very long ago,
Anwar had his notoriety as a pretty damn rabid anti-Chinese during his days
as an UMNO yoof leader and when he was a happy lieutenant of Mahathir.
Since he fell out with Mahathir, Anwar has been busy re-inventing himself
and has sung different songs to different audiences. Although he is no
longer with UMNO his sudden transformation cannot be readily trusted
because of his history and because he is too busy with his Sotong Mee case
which should not be any part of any effort to build up an opposition in
Malaysia. His Sotong Mee is his personal and private matter which he
himself should fight to extricate himself from.
There are plenty of worthy people who can and should stand up and lead an
effective opposition. Anwar can always return to politics but only on the
fringe, he remains pretty tainted with his connection with Mahathir and he
is a spent force. He is also too closely linked to some dark names in Yank
politics. A true base should be built on trust by the Malaysian public
which does not need any Yank blessing.
As much as UMNO has degenerated, Anwar has become an unknown quantity and
although there should be some sympathy for him, Malaysians ought to
concentrate more on building a decent opposition and this is not dependent
on Anwar at all. While UMNO and others can make noises about Anwar being
close to the Yanks and all, being close to seriously rabid warmongers
mass-murderers and ex-Trots like Wolfy is not helpful at all.
Malaysians ought to sideline Anwar and not treat him as if any opposition
in the country is dependent on him.
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +9
...
written by Ellese A , July 17, 2010
Anwar is in severe mess. This revelation came after the revelation that he
apologised for his anti Zionist stands before his Jewish friends in the US(
see Washington post) after leading thousands of people in an anti-zionists
demonstration. He thought that whatever he did in the US will not be known
in Malaysia. He thought that this betrayal of trust and two faced politics
could be contained. He is using strategies like Teddy bear's argument to
divert the issues. But the fact remains that he betrayed this trust. People
see this.
report abusevote downvote upVotes: +10
..., Lowly rated comment [Show]
...
written by Anti-dinosaur , July 17, 2010
This no longer news. Everyone knows that this guy is a crook. Go check the
neocon newspaper Washinton Post, it also verifies his 'connections'.
He plays to the stage. In Malaysia we know he changes tune according to the
audience.
This guy is divisive and does it all for his own interest.
He is a political dinosaur and should be sent to the museum