Lee Kuan Yew on Terrorism ( The former PM of Singapore speaks )

Islamic terrorism continues unabated: July 7, London, England--three suicide bombers strike the underground railway, another hits a bus; July 23, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt--three suicide bombers strike hotels and a market in the resort district; Oct. 1, Bali, Indonesia--three suicide bombers target restaurants in two tourist areas; Oct. 29, New Delhi, India--two bombs are detonated in crowded markets and one on a bus the weekend before Diwali (Hindu Festival of Lights); Nov. 9, Amman, Jordan--three suicide bombers strike three Western hotels.

Has the situation in Iraq made terrorism worse? In the short term, yes. But terrorism was already set to get worse. Before the war in Iraq jihadist acolytes in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Spain, Holland, England and many other countries were being prepared for martyrdom by their imams (clerics). The jihadists want to destroy Israel and drive the U.S. out of the oil states of the Gulf. This witch's brew of hate would have been on the boil regardless of U.S. actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. The random killing will go on for years and will stop only when the jihadists and their teachers realize that instead of bending it to their will the bombing of innocent people has turned the world--including many Muslim countries, such as Jordan--against them.

President Bush's approval ratings are down. The reasons are standard for American politics: Hurricane Katrina, Iraq, a failed Supreme Court nomination and so on. As a non-American, I hope to be excused for pointing out that if the President is conscribed or hindered from countering the Iraqi insurgency or from tackling Iran's nuclear activities, all Americans--not just Republicans--will face greater danger, as indeed will Europeans and Asians.

If the insurgents and jihadists force the U.S. military to withdraw from Iraq, terrorists will be further emboldened. After driving the Russians from Afghanistan, getting the U.S. out of Iraq would be an immense triumph. Exultant Islamists would spread their terror into America, Europe and South and Southeast Asia.

Following this month's elections Iraq's democratically installed government will have the moral authority to govern and restore order, as well as the will to fight to retain its hold on power. After decades--if not centuries--of subjugation by the Sunnis, the Shiites and Kurds are not about to yield their power because of Sunni or jihadist terror. With U.S. support Iraq's government will expand the security forces and can prevail. However, if the U.S. leaves prematurely, the jihadists might bring down the government. Then we can expect terror to spread. The aim of the jihadists is global--a caliphate.

No people will allow jihadists to roll over them--not even if those terrorists have weapons of mass destruction. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council must prevent jihadists from acquiring such weapons. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declaration that Israel should be wiped off the map was candid--and unsettling--and must not be taken lightly.

To cut off the growing number of terrorists, the U.S. must forge a grand coalition to strengthen Muslim moderates--the modernizers and rationalists--so they can stop radical Islamic clerics from inciting jihadists. This coalition must include Europe, Russia, India, China and all other countries that are targets of Islamic terror.

Regardless of terrorism, the rise of China and India will continue; it seems inexorable. China's annual growth rate is 8% to 9%; India's is 6% to 7%. At these rates China's GDP will be five times Japan's by 2040. Because India and China are playing catch-up, the speed of their transformation will be much faster than the growth of Japan or South Korea. The rest of the world's countries will need to continually restructure their economies. These two giants will pull up many of the economies of East and South Asia.

One serious constraint to China's and India's growth is energy. If every major oil- and gas-importing country tried separately to lock in supplies for itself, it would be a zero-sum game resulting in strife. Oil prices may skyrocket and abort growth worldwide. We all must use energy more efficiently and develop alternative fuel sources, especially nuclear power.

China needs internal stability and international peace in order to continue its growth. It must avoid any conflicts with the U.S., Russia, Japan or India. Every year China narrows the gap between itself and the U.S. Its leaders have repeatedly stated that they will need another 50 years to catch up, which is a realistic estimate. The current leaders experienced the calamities of the Great Leap Forward in the 1950s and the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. They've experienced the perils of overexuberance and intraparty strife. Their successors will not have these memories to draw on. For China's peace and growth to continue, its leaders must ensure that their successors absorb and internalize these past excesses and are wise and prudent enough to chart a course for China's peaceful rise.

I might not agree with the all of the man's policies ( he was the one who allowed the American teenager who sprayed graffiti in Singapore to get his butt whacked ), but he remains one of the shrewdest and most prescient politicians in the world. The fact that he was able to guide Singapore from being a 3rd world backwater into one of the world's most stable and wealthy financial powerhouses is testimony to his capability and statesmanship.

The first time I ever read anything positive about the U.S. involvement in Vietnam and SE Asia was from him. The Commie domino threat was very real and basically he said that the U.S. effort was enough to stall the Commies and give the other countries in the region enough time to organize and repel them, and that it would have been very grave without any U.S. intervention.

In my opinion, he was one of the world's greatest statesmen in the 20th century and today he hasn't skipped many beats.

They key to Lee Kuan Yew's rule and his successors policies is that it wasn't just an American teenager who sprayed graffiti in Singapore [getting]his butt whacked, it was anyone doing the crime. The rule of law is alive and well in Singapore, supported by the vast majority. Thus corruption is almost unknown, amazing for Southeast Asia.

Singapore continues to thrive in the heart of a very dangerous region, much of which is Islamist dominated and where the most revered politician is Mahathir.

<< .... he was able to guide Singapore from being a 3rd world backwater into one of the world's most stable and wealthy financial powerhouses .... >>

What absolute crap!

Except in Lee fiction, Singapore hasn't been any kind of backwater for two hundred years and the grandiose petty dictator, Harry Lee, is a legend mainly in only his own lunch time.

As is pretty common among the ill, mis, dis and/or un-informed, it seems you are being carried away with the raging rush of bull-poop that, even in his dotage, eminates from Lee and from his nepotism and permanent-bribery-graft-ridden PAP gang.

Although Francis T Seow and various other eminent lawyers and the Privy Council have quite brilliantly described Harry Lee and his dictatorial tactics, the much-more influential-than-Lee then capo de tutti capi of China's Jiang Gang, best summed him up when after one of Lee's earlier raves and rants about how to run the world - or in that instance, how to run China - Jiang told an underling to tell Mr Lee that "if we ever need a new mayor of Shanghai we will certainly consider making a call to him to see if he's available - and up to the job."

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles had a far greater influence on Singapore's development than has Lee - and geography and its position relative to the world's shipping lanes a far greater influence than either of them.

An idea might still be garnered from a visit to Once-FRee-British Hong Kong - and/or to the FRee Republic of Taiwan - of what essentially-insolvent-by-Lee's-hand [But for its government for more than twenty-five years having ripped up to 40% ("CPF" tax) off the top of its every citizen's every dollar] Singapore might have been, had not Lee and his gormless gang grabbed it and subjugated and strangled its industrious and productive and otherwise-would-have-been creative and innovative people.

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