On the surface, it looks like any innocent military exercises which the proven Malaysian soldiers had engaged in the past. Apparently, Malaysia’s involvement in a Saudi Arabia’s sponsored military exercise – Northern Thunder – raises concern as to the actual reason why Malaysian military personnel were sent thousands of miles into the kingdom.
The training in Saudi Arabia covers land, sea and air force units – running from February 16 until March 4, 2016. According to a Saudi press, the exercise involves 350,000 troops from 20 countries – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Jordan, Pakistan, Djibouti, Mauritania, Senegal, Sudan, Chad, Tunisia, Morocco, Comoros, Mauritius, Egypt, Maldives and Malaysia.
Saudi media boasted that the force includes 2,540 aircraft, 460 helicopters and 20,000 armoured vehicles. If the claim is true, Northern Thunder is the largest military operation in the region since the liberation of Kuwait in 1990’s Operation Desert Storm. What is amusing, however, was when Malaysia Defence Ministry hadn’t a clue about the country’s actual involvement.
According to Bernama, the official Malaysian government mouthpiece, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein was reduced to seeking clarification from the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) whether Malaysian military personnel are involved in a Saudi Arabian military mission. This means even the minister himself wasn’t sure if it was purely training or a mission.
Forget about asking Hishammuddin to resign for being clueless and ignorant on the country’s military involvement in a dangerous geopolitical crisis. If it was purely a military training, by all means the Malaysian Armed Forces should get the exposure not only because the country is part of United Nations and OIC who had done peacekeeping missions, but there’re also thousands of Malaysians living in the Middle-East.
However, one cannot help but wonder why Malaysia was invited but not Indonesia or Brunei or even some Gulf nations such as Bahrain, Iran, Iraq or Turkey. Ahh, this training is all about the Sunni Muslims flexing muscles on Shia Muslims. Naturally, Bahrain, Iran and Iraq were excluded by virtue of them being Shia-majority countries.
As the Syrian War is in high gear, Najib administration should know better than anyone about the sensitivity of sending the country’s military personnel to the Saudi. The participation could be easily misread as Malaysia joining Saudi-led forces, declaring war on Iran, Iraq and Russia in the Syrian conflict. And that could potentially invite suicide bombers into attacking Malaysia.
If genius Najib Razak hadn’t figured it out, operation Northern Thunder is just a “face-saving” exercise by Saudi to hide its miserable failure in its war in Yemen. About a year ago, Saudi Arabian-led 10-nation of Arab states thought it would be an easy meat against Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen. Today, after spending billions of dollars, the Houthis still control Sanaa and most of the northern part of Yemen.
With tail between legs, Saudi has lost the war it started and desperately needs something to cover its humiliation. At best it was a stalemate in Yemen. So, Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman initiated a “show of power” party disguised under military exercise by inviting all its minions to bring their soldiers and military hardware to Saudi.
It’s no coincidence that Saudi deliberately chose Hafar Al-Batin in North of Saudi Arabia for the so-called 3-week exercise. The city is located just 94.2 km from the Kuwait border, and about 74.3 from the Iraq border, not to mention its nearest point to Iran. The exercise was to send an intimidation message to Iran what Saudi could mobilize in a future conflict between Riyadh and Tehran.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein can clarify and bitch until the cow comes home that it was merely an exercise to deepen ATM’s understanding of humanitarian and disaster relief procedures and interoperability. But the fact remains that the military were being dragged into an exercise at the “wrong time” and at the “wrong place”.
Therefore, can you blame critics for suspecting the military’s involvement has everything to do with Saudi’s RM2.6 billion tax-free donations, which found its way into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts? Did the genius salesman pledge to commit the nation’s military at the Saudi’s disposal in exchange for the gift money from the kingdom?
Perhaps that explains why Malaysia is the only Sunni Muslim country in the South East Asia invited for the party. After pawning the country’s land to China in exchange for billions to save his 1MDB failed project, is there any surprise that the same could have been done to the country’s armed forces? Were taxpayers’ money used to help Saudi boost its domestic image after the Yemen defeat?
The most worrying part is this. Indirectly, Malaysia has chosen side and openly declares its support to the Saudi Arabia in the face of Iran, Iraq and Russia. Extremists or terrorists sympathetic to Iran now have reason / excuse to include Malaysia in their target list. If this is the level of damage Najib regime could deliver in his 7-year-rule, imagine what he could do in another 10 years to the country.
Other Articles That May Interest You …
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- Season 2 Of Najib Multi-Scandals – Don’t Get Mad, Get Popcorn
- Malaysia A Sitting Duck For Terrorism – Why Najib Regime Can’t Handle It
- Here’s One Country ISIS Fears The Most But Never Talked About
- Malaysians Refused To Give Way To VIP – A Sign Of People’s Uprising?
- ISIS Have Passport Printing Machine – They May Have Entered U.S. Already
- Here’s Why Turkey Could Be Alone In A “Nuclear War” With Russia
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February 24th, 2016 by financetwitter
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