The current play to use the military as political issue was started by the opposition and certain have-been faction in UMNO prior to the 2007 Ijok by-election.
It is still fresh in the public psyche that it arise from the murder of Mongolian call girl, Altantunya Shaaribu. She had a tryst with Defense Analyst and lecturer, Razak Baginda.
Razak had a short stinct as Najib's part time speech writer and was involved in the submarine project. Consequently, opposition created stories that Razak was taking bribe for himself and UMNO as services fee for Perimekar.
It did not stopped there but stretched into the accusation of murder of Altantunya by Razak, Dato Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah in which it was committed by two UTK men.
The issues had died down but since 2010, PKR tried to revive it via SUARAM using their complain and investigation by the French court. The lies by SUARAM and various myth has since been debunked.
Although there are several attempt to revive it, the issues are considered dead. However, Anwar has not given up.
He is now taking it beyond Scorpene and Altantunya but into a bigger millitary issues. With dwindling audience at ceramah, issues debunked, and faced with a BN on the offensive, it could be his last straw.
By the look of things, Anwar is using the military card beyond creating issue for votes but act of treason into the realm of national security and coup d 'etat.
Four "Generals"
Last Saturday, Anwar was present in the Ulu Klang area for ceramah. He brought along four "generals" in his attempt to woe the military votes.
MINDEF is situated at the end of Jalan Semarak (then called Jalan Gurney) near Kg Dato Keramat and naturally, there are many servicemen or ex-servicemen living in the area. There is also Camp Wardieben in Setapak.
Although there are proportion of PAS voters among low level police and servicemen, the majority and higher level officers are usually pro to the present government of Barisan Nasional. So it is considered a major coup for Anwar to be able to showcase the four former senior military officers.
After a couple of days of asking around friends with knowledge on the going-ons of the military and senior military officers, it is not quite a coup for Anwar.
He had been dishonourably dismissed for involvement in the sales of old F-5E engines and been known to abuse his position as Panglima Logistik di Markas Logistik Udara.
Read the revelation by former millitarymen Askar Setia here.
During the press conference to announce his joining of PKR, Ghafir was promoted for voicing out malpractices and the poor quality of millitary purchases.
For that, Defense Minister, Dato Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi responded by the question, Apakah standard Abdul Ghafir?
In his last position, Ghafir was in an administrative position and also responsible for providing the military specifications in the BQ for any purchases. If he is to raise about the low quality of purchases, the finger only points back to him. It in unfair of him to raise it after he has retired.
Ghafir raised about staff welfare in his recent ceramah. [Read Suara Keadilan here]. The compulsive liar Rafizi also promised an idiotic offer to increase pension by 5% without understanding the real financial problem facing our servicemen. [Read Suara Keadilan here]
But why now when he was in service, Ghafir was known to the lower officers as only concern of his own position and perk.
The story of Ghafir goes way back when Najib was Defense Minister and Anwar was Finance Minister. As one former high military officer said, Ghafir received the displeasure of Najib when he by-passed him and dealt direct with Ministry of Finance officials.
The retired officer had told Ghafir recently to remind his friend, Anwar that it was him who introduce the practise of direct negotiation in military purchase. Ghafir did not respond.
There are sources that claimed Imran took early retirement due to some Lumut shipbuilding contract. [See Sel13.com here].
There are claims that he left because he lost out for the position of Navy Chief. However, not much is said of it within the military circle. The Navy Chief position was never meant for him because he did not have seamanship experience.
Imran has always had religious inclination and particularly after his two daughters died in a car accident some years back. It seemed the accident affected him psychologically and his work.
PAS is seen as a natural political abode for Imran. His name is being bandied around to take on Perak Menteri Besar Dato Dr Zambery Kadir for Pangkor or wherever seat he will be contesting. Surprisingly, he has succumbed to the PAS bad politics of mocking Zambery's Honorary Admiral given to him by the Navy.
There are several reasons believed to have made him join Pakatan Rakyat. A close friend of Najmi said he is attracted to PAS offer to contest in Kedah.
One source claimed that there are personal issues between him as KAGAT Director (1995-2005) and his successor Director, Major Gen. (R) Dato Dr Jamil Khir (2005-2008).
The former high army official happen to be his former boss. He did not comment on those talks but basically described him as "orang yang terlalu ikut syariah." He could be inferring that Najmi has a judgemental temperament which is typical of PAS.
Coup d'etats
Informative blog Gelagat Anwar here said Anwar was not happy with Saturday night's do. He is looking to reconsider whether their presence added more political punch. For one, their public discussion of "secret" military material may not be accepted publicly. [Read here as taken from The Mole]
Perhaps, Anwar is sizing up their effectiveness in his other planned endeavour. It is already been said openly by Tun Dr Mahathir here and former Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan here of the possibilities of Anwar seeking to do a coup d'etat after the election.
In mid 2012, Dr Mahathir mentioned the involvement of foreign hands in undertaking a regime change in Malaysia. Ever since, much expose had been done openly of Anwar's link with foreign powers and agencies. It is now openly discussed in mainstream media.
Anwar has not denied these allegations. Thus he is left with no other option but to just pursue it. And, Bersih and their call for cleaner election have long been said to be merely an excuse to justify a street revolution.
He has become bolder and in his recent speech at the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat on January 12th at Stadium Merdeka, he made the threat openly. Hear below his threat at 17:40, below:
Sahabat Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) under Badrul Shahrin (or Chegu bard) have announced a road show as below:
There is indication that Chegu Bad with SAMM and guided by Hishamuddin Rais may have prepared for this possibility.
For instance, this presentation and discussion led by Fahmi Reza as organised at Malaysiakini office in Bangsar in July 2011 indicate there have been ample discussion and planning towards this.
Their mind looks to be made up already. If they lose, Pakatan and their satellite NGOs are determined to accuse the Election Commission as fraudulent.
In this respect, the role of Nick Xenophon is to gather support from abroad to maintain the perception of election fraud so as to justify a Tahrir-square like Malaysia Spring revolution to bring down the government through a people power uprising on the street.
The last such successful people uprising eeffort in this region was done by Corazon Aquino to overthrow Ferdinand Marcos in the Phillipines in 1986. The widely held belief was that Aquino had won the election but was denied by the widespread election fraud.
Any revolution needs financial support and military defection. It was the support of Jewish banker to bankroll the French revolution to safeguard their interest that enable it's success.
In the Phillipines, the defection to leave the Marcos regime by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Chief of Staff, Fidel Ramos on February 22, 1986 to support people power that was the turn of event for Aquino.
Enrile and Ramos barricade themselves in the Defense Ministry headquarters in Manila, along with a small group of sympathetic troops.[Read here]
Is Anwar looking for generals with sympathetic troops to back him?
Other than these four "generals", there are other possibile sympathisers like Mind No Evil blog writer, Brig General (R) Arshad Raji who was the commanding officer for the Cambodian mission. However, our army are not programmed for coup d'etat and run the civilian government.
Lt Kolenel (R) Rosli Gani is being bandied around to be the Malay candidate for MB should DAP manege to takeover Negeri Sembilan. [Read Tauke Ikan here]
Can these retired military personalities provide the military support for the success of Anwars post-election Malaysia Spring? Perhaps, what is pondering in Anwar's mind is can they be loyal to him and not to their PAS and DAP parties?
Incidents
When the Lahad Datu intrusion by some 100 para military soldiers from Sulu was out in the open on Saturday, many thought that it could be an attempt by Anwar to embarass the on-going Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigration.
Although the opposition made an issue of our defense and was distributing the above doctored picture from the MNLF website, some viewed it as a diversion from the increasing negative publicity Anwar is getting in Sabah.
Since Dr Mahathir openly accused him since he was instrumental in the Sabah manouvre to oust Tun Datu Mustapha, Tan Sri Pairin kitingan's PBS government and delegate votes to oust Tun Ghaffar in a blitzkrief move, his ceramah crowd in Sabah have been dwindling.
He also made a folly of himself to receive the Hoguon Siaou honour given by some PKR Kadazan. [Read Jalil A Hamid here]
To be fair to the military, our sources said the armed Moro fighters trickled in by boat and is difficult to detect by merely radar. It is made more difficult to identify between fishermen boat and their vessels under a radar.
When it was detected by Thursday or Friday, the military could have blown them away but government was reluctant to risk the peace agreement made between MILF and Phillipines government.
The ploy to claim and seek acknowledgement as Sulu royal army was a clever ploy but it was not too long that the link between Nur Misuari and his MNLF organisation and the intrusion. The Phillipines Star report refers here and the extract below:
MANILA, Philippines - The more than 100 fully armed Filipinos holed up since Wednesday in a remote coastal town in Sabah were on a mission to press the claim of the Sultanate of Sulu on Sabah, an official of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) said yesterday.
“They went there because they wanted to go back to their homeland Sabah, which is part of the Sultanate of Sulu,” said Habib Mujahab Hashim, MNLF central committee member and chairman of the Islamic Command Council.
“However, they were rounded up by the Malaysian security forces because close to 100 of them were armed,” Hashim said, citing reports he received from the field.
He said there were more than 200 Filipino Muslims involved in the standoff. He stressed the armed men were not detained but were merely invited for questioning.
He said the group was sent back to Tawi-Tawi “after hours of negotiation.” It was not clear as of press time if the group had indeed left the secluded coastal village of Lahad Datu some 500 kilometers from Kota Kinabalu.
A ranking military official said MNLF chairman Nur Misuari orchestrated the standoff to attract the attention of the Philippine government and the international community.
“It has something to do with Misuari’s continuing claim of Sabah being part of the Philippines. Misuari just wants to show off. The MNLF may have forged a peace agreement with the government but Misuari has not given up on his claim of Sabah,” the military official who declined to be named said.
He said the so-called Royal Sultanate Army began to recruit members in the early 2000s.
“The following years they never gave the Philippine government any problem until this standoff in Sabah. The Royal Sulu Sultanate Army has been behaving well since then, until they went to Lahad Datu and declared they have the right to stay in Sabah,” the source said.
The source also linked the Sabah standoff to MNLF’s attacks on Abu Sayyaf strongholds in Patikul, Sulu.
The idea of a Sulu Sultanate was a hoax according to The Star's Phillip Golangai. [Read here.]
When it was announced by Dato Najib of the peace agreement between MILF and Phillipines government in October 2012, Anwar had met Nur Misuari. Anwar was hatching a plan to sabotage. [Read Jailani here.]
As President, Estrada had ordered the bombing of MILF camp in 2000. [Read here]
In the meanwhile in Sothern Thailand, a military base was attacked by 50 Muslim separatist movement. Read Asscoated Press report dated February 10th, below:
Five Soldiers Killed in Southern Thailand
It can be confidently claimed that Anwar has develop relationship with the southern Thai separatist fighters.
PATTANI, Thailand—Suspected militants killed five soldiers and wounded five others in two roadside attacks Sunday in Thailand's insurgency-plagued southern provinces, police said.
Earlier
In one of the attacks, insurgents detonated a car bomb on a road in Raman district in Yala province as a truck carrying six soldiers passed by early Sunday, Police Maj. Torphan Pusanthia said.
The militants then opened fire on the soldiers, killing five of them, and took away the dead soldiers' rifles, he said. One wounded soldier was rushed to a hospital.
The six soldiers were on their way to guard a group of local farmers on their way to work.
In the other attack, insurgents set off a bomb on a road in Ra Ngae district in Narathiwat province and wounded four soldiers, Police Col. Jiradet Phrasawang said.
He said the insurgents hid an improvised bomb under the road surface and detonated it as a pickup truck carrying the soldiers passed by.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in Thailand's three southernmost provinces since an Islamic insurgency erupted in 2004.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Sunday that the government would examine whether curfews are needed in the restive south, especially in the areas where attacks frequently occur.
"Authorities are looking into details," Ms. Yingluck told reporters. "Any areas that are peaceful, we don't want to announce curfews, but any areas that remain problematic, we will look at it on a case-by-case basis."
Officials from security agencies are scheduled to meet Friday to discuss safety measures for the southernmost provinces.
Teachers as well as security officials have been targeted as government representatives by the insurgents, who have made no public pronouncements but are thought to be fighting for an independent Muslim state. The area used to be an Islamic sultanate until it was annexed by Thailand in the early 20th century.
Muslims in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and part of Songkhla provinces have long complained of discrimination by the Buddhist-dominated central government.
In a conversation with Dato Eskay of Dato T video revelation, he claimed of introducing Anwar to some of them and later, Anwar by-passed to meet them privately. He was said to have provided funds and assistance to them.
Could all these incidents be part of Anwar's ploy to seize power militarily?
Already he is sending mayday signal to his business partner and reformasi days supporter, former American Vice President, Al Gore. This is a note of desperation. [Read here]
Will the takeover involved the four generals, assistance from outside forces like the Moro freedom fighter and Southern Thai separatists movement, and his willing-to-die supporters, particularly from Nik Aziz's PAS?
For the fighting troop, Anwar would have the service of Nik Aziz's band of taksub (fanatics), Unit Amal. Don't laugh please. Former Unit Amal trainees have graduated to be part of Al Maunah and involved in some Bank heist.