The helicopter view approach

Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali whacked me to kingdom come and made all sorts of snide remarks against me during PKR’s annual general assembly in Penang. Azmin had venom is his tone when, during his speech, he looked at me and said that all those who collaborate with Dr Mahathir can take a hike. I detected the smirk on Anwar’s face when Azmin took that swipe at me.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

All warfare is based on deception.

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent's fate.

He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.

It is essential to seek out enemy agents who have come to conduct espionage against you and to bribe them to serve you. Give them instructions and care for them. Thus doubled agents are recruited and used.

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemy's strategy.

The above are just some of Sun Tzu’s quotes. Nevertheless, these few are enough to give us an idea of what both Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim are doing right, and wrong.

Incidentally, my wife sent me a book on Sun Tzu’s quotes back in September 2008 when I was under detention in Kamunting and it took me only a day to read it from cover to cover. I must admit I found it most enlightening. It was the only book I ever re-read three days in a row.

I too have my own panduan peperangan (guide to warfare), which I once wrote about, probably ten years or so ago, long before I had read Sun Tzu. These go as follows:

Those who fight and run away live to fight another day.

Never fight your enemy in his terrain, which he knows best. Draw him into your terrain, which he is unfamiliar with.

The best form of defence is to attack.

When an enemy chases you, run away. When he is resting, launch a sneak counterattack.

A dead hero is of no use to his country other than for declaring national holidays.

Never face a more powerful enemy head-on. Ambushes always work better.

Your task is not to die for your country. Your task is to make your enemy die for his country.

When faced with defeat, surrender and sue for peace. Once you have gained the advantage, wipe out your enemy through treachery.

Take a smaller enemy of your larger enemy as your friend. Once you have defeated your larger enemy then you can turn on your smaller enemy.

Never allow principles to stand in the way of your strategy. Victory is still victory even if gained in unethical ways.

Okay, I admit, not all my quotes are originals. Some are stolen but they still make good sense. The objective of war is to win and it is not how you play the game that counts.

I know, you would probably surmise that, judging by my quotes, I would clearly not hesitate to do a Datuk Maharaja Lela on JWW Birch, the British Resident of Perak who was stabbed in the back while taking a shit in the Perak River. But who the hell ever said that war is about playing fair? War is about winning, at whatever cost, even at the cost of collateral damage, if it has to come to that.

Let me give you one example. The opposition is hell-bent on bringing down Shahrizat Jalil regarding the cowgate fiasco. No doubt RM250 million of the taxpayers’ money has gone bust so she should be made to pay for it.

Or should she?

Now, there is currently a tussle over the Lembah Pantai parliament seat, currently held by Nurul Izzah Anwar who wrested it from Shahrizat in March 2008. Shahrizat wants to contest that seat again, as does Raja Nong Chik.

If Shahrizat were to contest that seat then there is a strong possibility that Nurul Izzah would, again, win. However, if Shahrizat is brought down, and chances are she might since the cowgate fiasco is hurting the government bad, then Raja Nong Chik would most likely get that seat. And if it were Raja Nong Chik versus Nurul Izzah, then Nurul’s chances of winning would be reduced.

It would have been better to spare Shahrizat so that she is chosen as Barisan Nasional’s candidate for Lembah Pantai. Then, once the nomination papers are filed, you can go to town and bring her down by using the cowgate issue.

Raja Nong Chik is a stronger candidate than Nurul Izzah and allowing him to contest the Lembah Pantai seat is not a wise move. But with Shahrizat out of the picture, that can now most likely happen.

Raja Nong Chik is certainly a smart cookie. His people leaked the information on Shahrizat’s cowgate fiasco and the opposition gleefully grabbed at it. They are now doing Raja Nong Chik a favour by bringing down Shahrizat. And because of that Nurul Izzah may be brought down as well.

Anyway, that is one example and there are many more. Another can be: why attack Najib too much? I would be ‘gentle’ with Najib, which actually I am (although this has attracted allegations that Najib has bought me off).

If you want me to attack Najib I can do that as well. But why the hell do I want to bring down Najib just so that the opposition supporters would stop alleging that I have been bought off? I do not need the opposition supporters to sing my praises. They can condemn if that makes them happy. After all, small things please small minds.

If Najib is brought down and Muhyiddin Yassin takes over as Prime Minister, the chances of the opposition forming the next federal government is slim. With Najib leading the charge in the next general election, the disgust most people have with First Lady Rosmah Mansor is going to cost Barisan Nasional a lot of votes.

Rosmah is to Najib what Khairy Jamaluddin was to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, an albatross around his neck. I would rather have Najib as Prime Minister when we face the next general election than Muhyiddin. Najib has a lot of internal enemies within Umno, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad included. And I would rather have Dr Mahathir on our side, like in the 2008 general election.

What, you do not think that Dr Mahathir is still relevant and a factor? Hey, if not for Dr Mahathir, do you think Pakatan Rakyat could have done so well in the March 2008 general election? Why do you think I supported Dr Mahathir back in 2006 and 2007?

Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali whacked me to kingdom come and made all sorts of snide remarks against me during PKR’s annual general assembly in Penang. Azmin had venom is his tone when, during his speech, he looked at me and said that all those who collaborate with Dr Mahathir can take a hike. I detected the smirk on Anwar’s face when Azmin took that swipe at me.

"All eyes on me"

I know what I was doing. Sure, that attracted a lot of snide remarks about how Dr Mahathir had bought me off and was financing Malaysia Today and whatnot. But then these are remarks from people devoid of a brain that can think clearly. They are guided by emotions and not by logic. And the way they are trying to bring down Najib and Shahrizat is evidence of this.

Anyway, enough said. You play the game according to your strategy and I will do so according to mine. At the end of the day the test of the pudding is in the eating, as President Bush said.

The Wanita Umno ladies have committed to stand by Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who has been badly hit by the cows and condos issue. But will the men be as kind to her at the Umno general assembly next week?

No one may ask Shahrizat to step down as Wanita Umno chief or from her Cabinet post. But as many have pointed out, she is no longer viewed as a winning candidate in the general election and that is something which she has to think about in the months ahead.