Sunday, May 11, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
A safe pair of hands
Richard Stengel, Managing Editor for Time Magazine wrote in the To Our Readers section saying that what TIME 100 great reading is the pairings. The pair of the great leader to give his or her opinion how great is the icon to be on the list.... and for the Malaysia so called 'prime minister in-waiting'... Wolfowitz is his pair, the most eligible figure to tell the world why Anwar is very important for them... Sleep on it mate....
THE 2008 TIME 100
By Paul Wolfowitz (TIME)
During the 1990s, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a group of U.S. Senators organized a forum to exchange views among East Asians and Americans.
This devout Muslim leader was an impressive and eloquent advocate of tolerance, democracy and human rights. So we were shocked by his arrest and trial in 1998 on charges of corruption and sodomy. I felt his real "crime" had been to challenge Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose impressive record will be forever stained by his treatment of Anwar. I joined Senator Sam Nunn and others to speak out in Anwar's defense. When he was finally released from prison in 2004, U.S. policy on Iraq was unpopular in Malaysia, and Anwar was harshly critical. It would have been easy for him to disown our friendship, but he is not that kind of person. He kept the channels of dialogue open, even while making clear our disagreements.
Anwar, 60, is back in the center of Malaysian politics. The coalition led by his wife Wan Azizah has become the main opposition bloc. His future role can be determined only by Malaysians. One can hope that they will embrace his brand of tolerance, valuing dialogue across political differences, and that this courageous leader will continue to play a leading role on the world stage.
Wolfowitz is a former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense