Free Anwar Ibrahim

While I heartily approve of your post and its message, Joe, I can’t help but think about the tragic reality that a large portion of the U.S. population does not agree with you that fighting to exterminate homosexuality is barbaric.

It used to be that America stood for the ‘high ground’ on freedom and opportunity, but our image is sadly tarnished in recent years with assaults on our Constitution that the current administration has let stand and new ones it is determined to create.

Before we decry oppressive government tactics in another country, we should acknowledge the corruption of the principles of our own.

While noting dwilde1′s comment I’d like to add to Joe’s call. I worked for 3 years in the PMO in Malaysia as an expat on contract and saw the horrible twsits and turns of the Anwar Ibrahim downfall, “trial” and imprisonment by judges who did a great job of following PMO directives. Many people I spoke to did not believe the charges then and I have my doubts about this one. He was being groomed to succeed Mahathir Mohamed the tough and difficult to please PM but fell out and was then charged.

MM found it difficult to meet a US President in the Oval Office after that for some time and only after paying hefty fees to a Republican lobbying firm did he get to see Pres Bush.

As long as Anwar remains the Leader of the Opposition he will be hounded.

Every right thinking person should protest the sodomy trial – and sodomy laws in general BUT
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The fact that you praise Anwar as an “outspoken voice for freedom”, the fact that he’s the toast of Doha and Davos and the “Brookings US-Islamic forum” – well, that sums up everything that’s wrong with the guy and his program.
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Anwar is a tool of the IMF and the Washington Consensus.
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Malaysia has consistently told the IMF to piss up a rope and has prospered for it. Anwar wants to change that.
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He wants to tear Malaysia apart by gutting the affirmative action policies that’ve held the country together so admirably (compare Indonesia).
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He wants to privatize and deregulate the place into one big sweatshop.
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That’s why beyond a small middle-class minority (the one Joe is most likely to encounter) the broad swath of Malaysians have rejected him at the polls again and again – and will continue to do so, no matter how awful and corrupt UMNO is.

MM found it difficult to meet a US President in the Oval Office after that for some time
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Oh I think there’s a lot more reasons than the sodomy trial. His defiant (and IMHO brave and wise) response to the Asian crisis had nothing to do with it?

As long as Anwar remains the Leader of the Opposition he will be hounded.

Sadly, using sex scandals as a proxy for political fights is standard practice in Malaysian politics.
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The opposition isn’t innocent in this either: they’ve got their own campaign to charge the prime minister with murdering a Mongolian call-girl.

Agree with everything you say. MM refused to kowtow during the Asian currency mess and he was pretty anti-West and stridently so. Vision 2020 owes much to him. While Anwar faced the sodomy charge Najib, who was always having something on the side, only began to get pummelled during the Abdullah interregnum. So selective attacks are still in vogue both here at home and abroad.

On the MM visit to the US I saw the paperwork and the Malaysian PM was “begging” to visit. There was a time when a picture at the WH and a guest room at Blair House counted for something.

But nothing gets people’s back up than lectures from US journalists and politicians on how political opponents should be treated in some “former” Third World countries.

On affirmative action: umm! I don’t know what you mean since the policy is hopelessy tilted in favour of Malays.

“Let’s leave aside the human rights outrage…well, maybe not–anti-sodomy laws are barbaric.”
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I take it this is an example of where we (America) is supposed to now respect human rights. Because this person’s treatment is barbaric to our senses. Unlike our own treatment of prisoners that we secreted away to black sites around the world without telling anyone to include their immediately families were they were and the ones we are holding indefintely without trial or due process. Malaysia apparently think this guy is a threat and they are keeping Malaysia safe. I’m sure they have the appropriate legal opinions to support holding this person and doing with him what they will. I know we would. Have those memos I mean. At least Maylaysia has appears to have gone through the motions. This guy it seems has at least had a trial and everyone knows where he is.

Personally, I’m quite comfortable with calling anti-sodomy laws “barbaric.” Just because the U.S. has some barbaric practices of its own, we don’t need to lapse into moral relativism when confronting repugnant practices governing the expression of other people’s sexuality.

Just saying the words have no meaning unless those words have standing and credibility based on your past actions. With your, in this case being both the United States government that refuses to hold itself accountable and Joe as part of the main stream media that refuses to hold our own government accountable when it creates human rights abuses of its own. This is not to say people and governments cannot make mistakes.

gunny, very good point, calling out hypocrisy for what it is; what it is is what it is. US foreign AND domestic policy is riddled with it, and although I have no problem with Klein’s post, I can’t nod in agreement and also look the other way at obvious contradictions.

btw, let me also point out that although sodomy, of biblical origin, is commonly referred to as homosexual acts, the acts themselves are also common heterosexual practices, just not prosecuted (persecuted), in either the christian or muslim worlds.

Free Marwan Barghouti…

Do not overestimate what a supposedly or overtly smart yet elderly politician can do to his nation. What had he done when in line for the top power?

He is a spent force, desperately courting the help from the West in the name of democracy.

…with purchase of another Anwar Ibrahim of equal or greater value.

What is going on, Joe? you travel to the Middle East, home of some of the biggest debtors and creditors on the planet, and yet the first thing you report back is about a pre 9/11 Muslim icon ( yes, 9/11 shook the Islamic world as well) who is now past his use-by date.

Why is Obama so soft on terrorism?
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A top Taliban commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has been captured, a senior administration official said late Monday.

Anwar is on trial in Malaysia because the charges were trumped up by his former boss and those in the UMNO political circles who disliked Anwar Ibrahim. There are a lot of politicians who are worst off than Anwar Ibrahim because there are a lot of corruption, nepotism, etc. etc. and the whole lot of gamut wanting to fatten the fat cats who have been in power since independence. Lets not all go softie on Anwar…he was once a main political hypocrite who was indifferent like a lot of his buddies in the Mahathir administration. But later on, he found out all the discrepancies and the overfatten greediness of the fat cats who do not even care even for its own race to rid them from poverty. Because of the indifference, the then Dr. Mahathir Mohd trumped, “fabricated” and planted charges against his former deputy. Anwar lost msot of his compatriots and the ones who came to his assistance were the minorities (most he voiced against when he was deputy), the Indians and the Chinese, who through a lot of legal effort got him off from prison. Mahathirism is the cause of most of the 80s and 90s democratic fallacies. When the former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi tried to restore trusts amongst the people, Mahathirism still has its formidable roots and Badawi (after the failure in the last election) decided that enough is enough and he left. The current stalwart Najib Rajak is a Mahathir supporter who is trying to cause consternation again and the recent religious resentments and disturbances proved only a heated debate and angst to the minorities in Malaysia. What now? US and the public should try to offer queries and put pressure on the Malaysian Government to give them answers. Malaysia depends on the US for a lot of things especially on education, trade and investments. The funny thing is that a lot of these educated are from the West and are doing this to the poorer and the minorities and fattening themselves.

Islamic Shariah requires 4 eye witnesses in the cases of Sodomy ad Adultery in order to be able to accuse anyone and convict him/her of the crime.

It is understandable to hear of those varied remarks coming from so many people of different origin and background but it would suffice for me to say that Anwar will eventually triumph