By : NILE BOWIE
THE ISSUE of civil society
groups receiving foreign funding has been a major point of discussion in
Malaysia during recent times, causing controversy and drawing criticism from
activists to members of Parliament alike. Some activists tend to view
Putrajaya’s investigation into rights advocacy groups like SUARAM (a noted
recipient of foreign funding) as a desperate attempt to stifle dissent and
attack civil society.
Former PM Mahathir Mohamad’s
has repeatedly warned of a foreign-funded destabilization campaign aimed at
regime change in Malaysia – a claim that has been generally dismissed by Bersih
goers and the like.
With the nation’s 13th
General Election looming, some see talk of “foreign plots” as tired rhetoric,
while others fail to grasp the deeper machinations of foreign influence and do
little more than finger pointing at political opponents. In this instance, the
pages of a leaked US military document provide valuable insight into the nature
of “foreign plots” potentially aimed against Malaysia.
“TC 18-01 SPECIAL FORCESUNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE” is listed on the US Army’s official website and can
only be accessed by authorized officials within the American government (a
leaked copy has been made available and can be viewed by clicking here). [1]
The document is significant because it provides a step-by-step definition of
Washington’s “irregular warfare” and unconventional warfare tactics. The manual
illustrates the sheer impunity with which the United States conducts its
foreign policy, aimed at illegally interfering into the political affairs of
foreign nations with an aim to destabilize and reorder them to further American
economic interests; Dr. Christof Lehmann describes the manual as:
“…a step by step guide of
how to create, manipulate, co-opt and make use of a countries population,
persons of special interest inside the country as well as expatriates,
organizations inside as well as outside the country, towards a subversion.
Beginning with manipulating dissent into demonstrations, the polarization of a
population, riots and armed insurgencies that require action by security
forces, and psychological warfare by means of media, step by step, in logical
sequence, towards a full scale war, based on humanitarian principles and the
pretext of bringing democracy and freedom.” [2]
The targets of the above
mentioned irregular warfare operations are those states that have been
unwilling to align themselves with American diplomatic and economic interests
or semi-compliant states that are strategically located and abundant in natural
resources. The manual describes meticulously orchestrated covert operations
that are conducted in phases; beginning with psychologically influencing the
target population through foreign-funded dissident news media organizations.
Subsequently, targeted nations are infiltrated to provide training and
equipment to dissident groups, until a political transition is imposed, by
force if necessary. The manual is classified “Restricted” with a “Destruction
Notice“, and for obvious reasons – its pages lay bare the illegal and brutal
nature of US foreign policy by means of supporting insurgent groups that would
otherwise be called “terrorist organizations” (emphasis added):
“DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTION:
Distribution authorized to U.S. Government agencies and their contractors only
to protect technical or operational information from automatic dissemination
under the International Exchange Program or by other means. This determination
was made on 1 August 2010. Other requests for this document must be referred to
Commander, United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and
School, ATTN: AOJK-DTD-SF, 2175 Reilly Road, Stop A, Fort Bragg, NC 28310-5000.
DESTRUCTION NOTICE: Destroy
by any method that will prevent disclosure of contents or reconstruction of the
document.
FOREIGN DISCLOSURE
RESTRICTION (FD 6): This publication has been reviewed by the product
developers in coordination with the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special
Warfare Center and School foreign disclosure authority. This product is
releasable to students from foreign countries on a case-by-case basis only.
The Commander, United States
Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), defines [Unconventional Warfare] UW as
activities conducted to enable a resistance movement or insurgency to coerce,
disrupt, or overthrow a government or occupying power by operating through or
with an underground, auxiliary, and guerrilla force in a denied area. The
intent of U.S. [Unconventional Warfare] UW efforts is to exploit a hostile
power’s political, military, economic, and psychological vulnerabilities by
developing and sustaining resistance forces to accomplish U.S. strategic
objectives. For the foreseeable future, U.S. forces will predominantly engage
in irregular warfare (IW) operations.”
The ongoing conflict in
Syria and the unrest that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011 are
examples of the model proposed by this document being successfully utilized. In
both countries, American organizations such as the National Endowment for
Democracy and others both financially and rhetorically supported political
opposition and activist groups.
When protests in those
countries gained momentum, reports of violence surfaced, often in the form of
sniper fire, targeting both security personnel and civilians. In Libya, rebel
groups were armed by Western nations despite confirmed reports of jihadist and
extremist groups being the central component of the armed resistance.
As a result, these armed
militants did indeed topple the Libyan government, and have since been involved
in racially motivated mass killings and the recent murder of US Ambassador
Chris Stevens and four other American personnel in Benghazi. [3] The same
tactics have been used in Syria, where jihadist groups have received weapons
from US allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and have reportedly used
terrorist tactics such as bomb making and extrajudicial assassinations. [4] [5]
The “Phases of Unconventional Warfare” are described in the manual and exactly
match the US protocol undertaken in both Libya and Syria:
PHASE I: Preparation
Resistance and external
sponsors conduct psychological preparation to unify population against
established government or occupying power and prepare population to accept U.S.
support.
PHASE II: Initial Contact
USG [United States
Government] agencies coordinate with allied government-in-exile or resistance
leadership for desired U.S. support.
PHASE III: Infiltration
SF [Special Forces] team infiltrates
operational area, establishes communications with its base, and contacts
resistance organization.
PHASE IV: Organization
SF [Special Forces] team
organizes, trains, and equips resistance cadre. Emphasis is on developing
infrastructure.
PHASE V: Buildup
SF [Special Forces] team
assist cadre with expansion into an effective resistance organization. Limited
combat operations may be conducted, but emphasis remains on development.
PHASE VI: Employment
UW [Unconventional Warfare]
forces conduct combat operations until linkup with conventional forces or end
hostilities.
PHASE VII: Transition
UW [Unconventional Warfare]
forces revert to national control, shifting to regular forces or demobilizing.
Malaysia is not Syria or
Libya; the social and political systems of these countries and their resistance
movements are highly dissimilar and only so much can be taken from comparisons
of this nature. Even so, it is essentially confirmed that the agitation Malaysia
has experienced is not intended to promote a genuine democratic framework; its
purpose is the gradual installation of a national government that is friendly
to American interests by coaxing social unrest and shaping popular sentiment.
Just as described in Phase
1, “external sponsors conduct psychological preparation to unify population
against established government,” it can be gathered that this first step has
already been attempted. Bersih coalition leader Ambiga Sreenevasan has long
admitted that her organization receives financial assistance from “external
sponsors,” namely, the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Open
Society Institute (OSI), operated by financier George Soros.
The National Endowment for
Democracy (NED) also annually provides $100,000 (RM 317,260) to political news
website Malaysiakini, widely considered to be the nation’s most pro-opposition
news outlet. Premesh Chandran, Malaysiakini CEO, is a grantee of George Soros’
Open Society Foundations and launched the news organization with a $100,000
grant from the Soros-funded Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA). NED also
provides $90,000 (RM 285,516) to SUARAM. [6] Knowingly, or unknowingly, these
organizations have received financial support from the US Embassy due to the
controversial political discourse they espouse. Of course, the expression of
dissent should never be denied, and although the Najib Razak administration has
begun to move away from Mahathir’s administrative model by relaxing controls on
expression, many still feel more can be done.
If the United States is
pursuing the kind of policy described in the Unconventional Warfare manual, one
can understand how foreign-funded rights advocacy groups may be perceived as
threatening to Malaysian authorities, regardless of the politics and values
they preach.
Ostensibly, Malaysian
authorities are concerned about the violence and insurrectionary behavior that
have accompanied foreign-funded political movements in other countries once
momentum built around them. Malaysia would not likely fall victim to an
insurgency campaign anywhere near the scale seen in Syria. However, it would be
unwise to dismiss the possibility of seeing the kind of violence that took
shape in Thailand during the political unrest of 2010 if foreign elements
continue to pursue “irregular warfare.”
The possibility of political
instability coming to fruition during the general election period may factor
into explaining why the current government has not yet declared them.
The International Republican
Institute (IRI) is chaired by US Senator John McCain, an ardent supporter of
American and Israeli militarism, and annually receives $802,122 (RM 2,544,670)
from the NED for its Malaysian projects.
McCain’s IRI played a
crucial role in casting doubt on the validity of Russia’s 2011 presidential
elections by funding several US-backed NGOs, particularly GOLOS, an independent
electoral commission seeking to “expose voting irregularities.” The conduct of
the organization has generated widespread criticism from Russian lawmakers and
observer groups. Georgy Fyodorov, chief executive of Russian Observer
Association Civil Control stated:
“They have a clear
destabilizing tactic; they are carefully conditioning the public to hear some
‘breaking’ news of election fraud. The media will have a field day taping the
ensuing clashes between pro-Kremlin and nationalist youth being dispersed by
special police. This kind of footage would dilute any remaining trust in
Russian elections.” [7]
To dilute any remaining
trust – that is the principle objective when one attempts to “conduct
psychological preparation to unify population against established government.”
Elections are seen as an opportunity to challenge the legitimacy of a political
candidate or party, primarily by accusing the electoral system of being unfree
or somehow outside of international norms.
In the Malaysian context,
ruling authorities have acknowledged that more could be done to reduce voting
irregularities and have begun to work toward such ends. To accuse Malaysia’s
electoral system of being illegitimate is a cinematic exaggeration, a myth
pushed by foul Western endowments and foundations. Intelligent discontent is
the mainspring of civilization, it is irrefutably valuable and channeling it
comes with individual responsibilities. When foreign governments attempt to
harness other people’s dissent for their own objectives, it is the greatest
attack on dissent itself.
Notes
[1] TC 18-01 SPECIAL FORCES
UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE, US Army, 2010
[2] The Blueprint for the
War Libya? NSNBC, February 21, 2012
[3] AU: Libya rebels killing
black workers, CBS News, August 29, 2011
[4] Rebel Arms Flow Is Said
to Benefit Jihadists in Syria, The New York Times, October 14, 2012
[5] Outgunned Syria rebels
make shift to bombs, Reuters, April 30, 2012
[6] Pro-Israel groups
rooting for the Opposition, The Mole, September 27, 2012
[7] Russian Press - Behind
the Headlines, November 18, Ria Novosti, November 18, 2012
(NOTES : Nile Bowie is a
Kuala Lumpur-based American writer and photographer for the Centre for Research
on Globalization in Montreal, Canada. He explores issues of terrorism,
economics and geopolitics.)
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