One of the more surprising experiences of my life was visiting Malaysia, which has been governed by a strong man who, generally, is demonized in the American press. Because I was a guest of the State Department, I got to attend a speech by Prime Minister Mohamed Mahathir, who turned out to be one of the more reasonable leaders I've ever encountered. He was blunt, but also practical and capable of being funny in a relaxed, Clintonian way, as compared to stilted Bushian attempts at humor. However, he does do Bushian things, like destroying political opponents (see the quote in the story: "You cannot go around sodomising people" about his political rival Anwar Ibrahim, who everyone in Malaysia knows was tossed in jail on trumped up charges).
Mahathir is stepping down and even though he is a guy with a secret police force who frames and jails his political opponents, he has some very good things to say about the constructive role of Islam in the world. Hopefully, some of Islam is listening. Hopefully, America can see past the simple Us/Them distinctions we're encouraged to apply to the world and see that, if we pull together with the moderate Islamic world, there is a real chance for peace.
Mahathir's is a very mixed record, but, frankly, he represents a position of independence vis-a-vis the West that we have to at least understand in order to make a credible foreign policy.
Posted by Mitch Ratcliffe at October 10, 2003 09:53 AM | TrackBack