Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad slammed Israel and Western nations for causing a global upsurge in terrorism, saying religious extremists were only reacting to "blatant double standards" in the treatment of Palestinians and Iraq.
In his speech yesterday at the opening of the 13th summit of non-aligned nations in Malaysia's largest city, Mahathir warned that the US-led war on terrorism had degenerated into a campaign to dominate nonwhite nations.
"Since Sept. 11 the rich and powerful have become enraged with the poor half of the world," he said. "Their extreme measures to ensure security for themselves have only amplified the anger of the oppressed poor."
Although Malaysia has been a close US ally in the war on terrorism, Mahathir has repeatedly stressed that Washington should address root causes of militancy, rather than simply using military force to quash it.
"If we think back, there was no systematic campaign of terror outside Europe until the Europeans and the Jews created a Jewish state out of Palestinian land," Mahathir told delegates in his opening speech.
"The blatant double standard is what infuriates Muslims, infuriates them to the extent of launching their own terror attacks," Mahathir said. "If Iraq is linked to al-Qaeda, is it not more logical to link the expropriation of Palestinian land and the persecution and oppression of Palestinians with Sept. 11?"
In an apparent reference to the US, Mahathir denounced those causing civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"If the innocent people who died in the attack on Afghanistan and those who have been dying from lack of food and medical care in Iraq are considered collaterals, are the 3,000 who died in New York and the 200 in Bali also just collaterals whose deaths are necessary for operations to succeed?" Mahathir asked.
"While the suicidal terrorists die with each attack, the great warriors who press buttons see nothing of the mangled bodies ... the blood and gore of the innocent people," he said. "And because they don't see, the button-pressing warriors and the people who command them go back to enjoy a hearty meal."
"Tomorrow, they make more sorties to carpet-bomb more children, women and old people."
He urged the Non-Aligned Movement to strive to ban war, and proposed that the military budgets of all nations be restricted to 1 percent of their GDP, as was Japan's after World War II.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS