We're not just buying 18 new Su-30s, but "a whole bloody division of arms":http://www.irna.com/en/head/030526090412.ehe.shtml across air, sea and land. Again, i have to ask why?
bq. Malaysia's armed forces, with a total strength of 110,000 men, recently announced plans to buy 18 Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jets for US$900 million to add to its fleet of 18 MiGs, eight F-18s and 28 Hawks.It is also buying 48 main battle tanks from Poland for RM1.4 billion (US$368 million) and will pay 1.035 billion euros for three French submarines.
Ok, perhaps there is something here i'm missing; with matters of national security we can't be too careful as one commentor pointed out in "my recent post":http://www.aizuddindanian.com/voi/archives/000445.html about the purchase of the Su-30s. But let's look at the possibilities one by one:
# Singapore develops imperialist tendencies. They get tired of having to beg for water and decide that its time to TAKE it by force. They invade Malaysia, annex Johor, Melaka and Pahang in a lightning blitz that take the the free world by surprise. PM Goh begins to sprout a very Hitler-like hair growth on his upper lip and starts making speeches about the supremacy of the kiasu race. (Probability scale: Oh come on!!)
# Indonesia erupts in a flame of Islamist fervour, hell-bent on the dream of Pan-Islamica - an Islamised South East Asia. Its revealed that Megawati is actually a man in disguise with militarist tendencies. In order to appear more Islamic to her voters (after all, Indon is a democracy; gotta give the people what they want), she orders the army to invade all the neighbouring ASEAN states. (Probability scale: A very unlikely scenario. Indonesia has a host of internal problems; "a civil war in Aceh":http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2003/05/27/1053998537.htm is much more likely.)
# We need to defend ourselves from bloodthirsty sea pirates (and crazed VCD sellers). (Probability scale: Yeah, right.)
On the same note, it makes just as little sense for ASEAN to embrace the establishment of a permanent US military base, presumably in Singapore as a replacement for "the defunct outposts in the Philippines":http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb-012es.html. If anything, such an arrangement would heighten security fears, not decrease them. US military base means a very visible and vocal US presence = juicy ripe terrorist target. I concur with Najib: "keep those Americans away":http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,191158,00.html.
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