Gaza, Pakistan, Patani, Ukraine, Boko Haram - Money Is A Righteous Cause

 First lets listen to Robert F Kennedy in this very short video. RFK was a presidential candidate from the Democratic Party in the USA. Since he recently endorsed the Republican party candidate President Donald Trump for the presidency, RFK has withdrawn from the presidential race. It is comforting that rational minds like Robert F Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard and JD Vance exist in the US to lend their support to Donald Trump. There is still hope for the United States. 

RFK has named Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed among the major weapons manufacturers who want to keep the Ukraine war going because it means hundreds of billions of US Dollars in war profits for them.

American weapons could not even win wars fighting against skinny Taliban wearing flip flops and living in mud huts. The US Army's Iraq and Afghan war veterans are still going mad or committing suicide  because they cannot handle their guilt of murdering poor villagers living in mud huts in Afghanistan. PTSD is a major killer among US Army veterans. 

UKRAINE WAR

In Ukraine the American weapons are failing miserably fighting the super powerful Russian army. 

• 21 out of 31 American M1 Abrams tanks have been destroyed by Russian fire. 
• The British have completely withdrawn their Challenger tanks from the battle front. 
  
• The German Leopard tanks have also been destroyed and damaged. 

Everyday the Russians are blowing up warehouses in Ukraine which store western weapons. This only makes Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed happier because they get to supply replacement weapons - and earn more billions. 

"Each Patriot battery costs around US$1bn and each missile costs nearly US$4m".  So when a Patriot system is destroyed, that is another US$1.0 billion in replacement sales for Raytheon Martin Marietta. 

The west has absolutely no interest in "liberating" Crimea or any of the four Donbas regions now occupied by Russia. For centuries, Crimea and the four Donbas regions have had a majority Russian population.   They miscalculated Russia's military strength. The weapons makers just want to sell weapons. 

I will not be surprised if they leak the location of their weapons warehouses so that the Russians will destroy them. We live in a really sick world.

GAZA

Lets go to Gaza. After the 126 Palestinians were flown here, the Egyptians made a strange statement. They said they welcome more such flights to Malaysia. But our Minister said : 'There will be no second mission to bring more Palestinians to Malaysia..'   Well the Nenggiri By Election is over. The Malay vote has been won.

On the Egyptian side, "the selection of the 40 wounded Palestinians for treatment in Malaysia was made under the direction of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi".

That is bullshit. The Egyptians, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are making money from the Gazans.  Here is The Guardian newspaper.

• Palestinians leave Gaza through Egypt pay bribes up to US$10,000 
• pay large “coordination fees” to Egyptian intelligence services
• brokers trade in the blood of Gazans
• brokers based in Cairo operate around Rafah for years
• Egypt has long resisted opening the Rafah crossing
• man paid US$9,000 to get his wife and children on the list
• On the day of travel, told to pay extra $3,000
•  US$85,000 to get 11 family members out
  

Now you know why the Egyptians keep the Rafah crossing (into Gaza) closed. Anyone wants to leave Gaza has to pay bribes to the Egyptians. US$10,000 per person. 

Believe you me the Egyptians CANNOT work alone. On the other side they are working with the Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Everyone is in the game. They share the money.

But human trafficking is peanuts.  By Elections are very seldom in Malaysia. 

The big money comes from smuggling guns, weapons, Mercedes Benz and other goods from Egypt into Gaza through tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza border. This is the so called Philadelphi Corridor. 

As you can see a Humvee military truck can easily drive through the tunnels. These tunnels (more than 150 of them) are run like import-export businesses. The Egyptian generals charge a percentage on the Egyptian side of the tunnels. The Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas take their cut at the Gaza end of the tunnels. Everything is smoothly organised.

Folks, do you honestly think the Egyptian generals will agree to officially opening the Rafah Crossing into Gaza? They will lose millions of US Dollars in smugggling "fees".

And there is also a close cooperation going on between the Egyptian generals, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Hamas.  

• The common denominator is money. 
• The victims are the people of Gaza. 

If you thought that the Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian generals are all concerned for the welfare of the Gazan people, you are truly more stupid than your mother never told you. 

PAKISTAN

Pakistan has long been described as an Army that owns a country. Just  like in Egypt the Pakistani generals abuse their power to make money. And they have guns, which they use against anyone who stands in the way of the money. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979 - 1989) was a huge river of money for the Pakistani generals. The CIA channeled billions of US Dollars through Pakistan to help the mujaheddin fight the Soviets. The Pakistani generals took a huge cut of all that money. Some went to the mujaheddin. 

The 20 year American occupation of Afghanistan (2001 - 2021) brought more money to the Pakistani generals because all the American military equipment, supplies and logistics were delivered through the port of Karachi. Then transported by land to the US occupying troops in Afghanistan. The trucks, truck drivers were all supplied by the generals. 

Things have gone bad after the American retreat from Afghanistan in August 2021. The money has dried up. Now the war in Balochistan (against their own people) will definitely see increased military expenditure in Pakistan. The generals are well positioned to make money. Lately there has also been increasing terrorist activity on the Indian border with terrorist movement to and fro across the frontier. All this costs money. Rifles, machine guns, ammunition, explosives are expensive. Big money is always involved. It is highly debateable if the money spurred the terrorist activity.

PATANI

There were historical grievances in Patani. But things have changed in southern Thailand. There are still grievances but the motives are perhaps diverse. The Thai Malays used to be poorer than their cousins across the border in Kelantan. But over the years the Thai Malays seem to have improved their economic situation. Some observers say that the Thai Malays are now economically better off than their cousins in Kelantan.

Just like along the Egyptian-Gaza border, smuggling along the Sungai Kolok in Kelantan is a well organised, big business.  No matter how many enforcement ops are carried out it is all bullshit. The smuggling remains. Big money is involved. Corruption, close one eye, control of turf, control of smuggling "pipelines", laluan tikus, armed bodyguards all means money.

• 7 May 2024 — “Incidents of shooting and bombing that have occurred indeed have had an impact on the level of national border security
• 21 Jun 2024 Smugglers fire shots at Customs officers at Thai border
• 24 Nov 2020 Drug Smugglers Kill Malaysian Officer in Shootout at Thai Border

Smugglers are not warriors. They will not risk their lives. They just want to smuggle goods and make money. Shooting means things went wrong. Shooting also means someone is providing protection services. With guns, ammunition and gunmen. It has to be people with knowledge and experience in handling firearms. After all you fight for freedom so that you can make money.

Boko Haram 

In Nigeria the Boko Haram cares less about Islam than a buffalo cares for the flies on its back. The Boko Haram are cattle thieves or cattle rustlers. 

In Nigeria cattle are a major sign of wealth. The Boko Haram keep a close eye on the size of cattle herds in the villages around them. When the herd size is about right the Boko Haram raid the villages, steal the cattle, kidnap the young girls and escape. The girls are kept as slaves and wives while the cattle are sold off. 

That article above is mistaken. The Boko Haram do not steal cattle to fund their insurgency. It is the other way around. The Boko Haram use their "Islamic" insurgency as an excuse to justify their cattle rustling. They were and remain cattle thieves.

CONCLUSION : If you think that all these people are fighting for some high fallutin ideals like freedom and liberation you are really naieve.

That may have been the case 50 years or a 100 years ago. But not anymore. Everyone wants that Mercedes or Ferrari. Or their private airplanes. If the Tabung Tin Milo works, why not? If the money is big enough, they can shoot people. Or just let other people die.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.