Is Obama going to publicly rap Najib’s knuckles?
Of course, in the post-meeting joint-press conference after that, Obama will tell us that he has expressed his concerns to Najib and Najib will tell us that he has taken note of these concerns. And then they will adjourn for a night of merriment and will pat each other on the back as to how well they handled the public relations exercise with carefully chosen words that talk a lot but say nothing.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
This was what the Reuters/AFP news report said:
United States President Barack Obama will “very directly” raise concerns about the status of the opposition when he visits Malaysia, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said on Thursday (Nov 19).
“We are going to be very candid about areas where we have disagreements and differences and frankly objections if we see that the type of universal values that we support are not being respected,” Mr Rhodes said.
It was actually a 22-paragraph report of 583 words. However, only two paragraphs of 67 words are about what Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said. The other 20 paragraphs of 516 words are tokok-tambah, the opinion of the writer of this news item.
Of course, the opposition is going to town with this news report and it is going viral on the Internet. However, maybe they are reading too much into it because this is the standard sound bites that normally come out from the White House ahead of any meeting between the US President and a foreign leader.
In short, it is a two-paragraph report of 67 words made to look like a long 22-paragraph ‘special report’ of 583 words regarding Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak about to get two tight slaps from US President Barack Obama.
The White House always issues ‘politically-correct’ statements. It is the nature of the beast. War on terror. Committed to world peace. Collateral damage. Will not give in to blackmail. Will not negotiate with terrorists. There are so many phrases invented by the White House all aimed at giving an impression that the US will not compromise on ‘doing the right thing’.
The two-paragraph statement turned into a 22-paragraph ‘special report’ talks about ‘universal values’, which the US supports and which are not being respected, said the report. What universal values are those? Are these ‘universal values’ the same as US values?
The ‘best friend’ of the US in the Middle East is Saudi Arabia. The US allows women to drive, as do countries all over the world. So this is one universal value. Does Saudi Arabia allow women to drive and has the US President scolded the Saudi Arabian King and asked that women in Saudi Arabia be allowed to drive?
Hell, even right-hand drive cars have been stopped by the Saudi Arabian police because the woman was sitting on the ‘driver’s side’. One Malaysian chap was stopped seven times just driving from his home to his office because his wife sat on the left side of the car while he sat on the right, where the steering wheel is located. Never drive a right-hand drive car in Saudi Arabia if your wife is going to be with you.
And what about the universal value of democracy, free and fair elections, the people’s voice, freedom of religion, equality for women, and whatnot? Are these not also the values of the US? And has the US President scolded the Saudi Arabian King for not holding general elections every five years and for appointing his family members to the Cabinet. The entire Saudi Arabian government is a family affair.
And what about corruption and abuse of power? When you do business in Saudi Arabia you need to deal through one of the important families or ‘warlords’ and you need to cover them ‘commission’. If not you cannot do business in Saudi Arabia.
All foreign companies, US companies included, need to indulge in corruption to do business in Saudi Arabia. Has the US President spoken to the Saudi Arabian King about this and scolded him for not running a transparent, open and clean government?
No, the US is not really concerned about all these things. So do not hold your breath or else you might turn blue. What the US is concerned about is more business for US companies. The US is concerned that China is waking up from its slumber and may overtake the US as the number one military and economic power in the near future. The US is worried that if a Third World War does break out it will start in the South China Sea. And the US is concerned about what happened in Paris last Friday and wants to ensure that it does not happen again, and in the US this time.
In short, the main concern of the US President is regarding the interest of the US. It does not matter what happens in another countries. That is an internal matter of that country and does not concern the US — unless it affects the interest of the US. That is the bottom line, so be very clear about what President Obama is going to discuss with Prime Minister Najib.
Of course, in the post-meeting joint-press conference after that, Obama will tell us that he has expressed his concerns to Najib and Najib will tell us that he has taken note of these concerns. And then they will adjourn for a night of merriment and will pat each other on the back as to how well they handled the public relations exercise with carefully chosen words that talk a lot but say nothing.
