http://www.globalresearch.ca/malaysia-victim-of-americas-irregular-warfare-ops/5312600
Nile Bowie
(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.)
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 Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad 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 FORCES UNCONVENTIONAL
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).
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 the 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
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