Berani dalam Benar : The yearning for “peace….”

It is difficult to ignore what went on during the ASEAN Summit last year in trying to understand the abrupt attack on Iran last week. The reason is simple: the perpetrator of the “attack” was the same person who was invited as the “guest of honour” of the Summit. He was then given a very privileged welcoming ceremony, unlike his counterpart who visited Malaysia a few years before. Indeed, he was primed as “a man of peace” who even ambitioned to win the Nobel Peace Prize, no less. He was reportedly “supported” publicly by Pakistan, and better still, he “accepted” the Prize from the Venezuelan recipient, Maria Marchado, when she visited him in the Oval Office, despite the fact that the Prize is not transferable! The Laurate status remains with the recipient for all intents and purposes. Period. Much like national passports globally.

What is more obvious is that he has allegedly started more “wars” than achieving peace instead. The contrast between two is increasingly becoming more glaring with countries like Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Nigeria, Iraq and Venezuela, of late, being put under war-like experiences, some for the first time under any US administration.

During the ASEAN Summit, the conflict between two ASEAN member countries was said to be one motivation as to why the US President's presence is needed. Not unlike Pakistan, Malaysia as the Chair of the Summit was almost beholden to have the “man of peace” to resolve the regional conflict for the world to see. ASEAN swallowed this whole and proudly pronounced it as the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords! Evidently, the White House Fact Sheet highlighted the following: President Donald J. Trump Secures Peace and Prosperity in Malaysia (Oct. 26, 2025). Specifically, it reads: DELIVERING PEACE AND PROSPERITY IN ONE HISTORIC DAY: Today in Kuala Lumpur, President Donald J. Trump brokered the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords between Thailand and Cambodia, secured reciprocal trade deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, issued Joint Trade Statements with Thailand and Vietnam, elevated relations with Malaysia, and deepened US-Cambodia cooperation on defence and transnational crime. President Trump also participated in the 13th annual US-ASEAN Summit meeting.

ACHIEVING HISTORIC PEACE BETWEEN THAILAND AND CAMBODIA: President Trump and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hosted the Prime Ministers of Thailand and Cambodia to sign the ‘Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords’— a historic peace declaration ending border tensions between Thailand and Cambodia [italics added].

SECURING EVEN MORE TRADE DEALS: President Trump signed Agreements on Reciprocal Trade with Malaysia and Cambodia, and the United States announced frameworks for trade negotiations with Thailand and Vietnam.

The United States and Malaysia agreed to a historic trade deal that will open up Malaysia’s market for U.S. exports.

ENHANCING THE US-MALAYSIA RELATIONSHIP: President Trump and Prime Minister Anwar announced transformative deals that will deliver billions into the U.S. economy.

Fast forward, this contrasted very markedly with what took place in Iran on Feb. 28 where the message of “peace” was squandered by a “joint US-Israeli strikes” (dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”). Reportedly, it killed more than 1,000 people, including some 150 children of a girls’ school in the city of Minab. The United Nations rights chief stressed the need for “impartial investigations” into the strike, urging the US to move “very quickly” with its announced probe. According to TIME (Mar. 5), the strike was a decision made by Trump and that Israel did not force US action. The Trump Administration has openly called for regime change in Iran. In other words, behind the image of the “peace-lover” as we are made to believe, there is a “war-monger” working closely in support of the Israel Zionist strategy. The case was made worse when lawmakers and international observers raised concerns about the legal basis for the US-Israeli strikes. While the US President is also the country’s Commander in Chief, his authority to order military action is said limited to repelling attacks or deterring a clearly imminent attack, according to expert opinions. To launch an attack on a sovereign state, an authorisation from Congress, which has the exclusive power to declare war, is imperative. Still only Spain seems to be most resolute in this case when it rejected the American military intervention! This not only resonates well with several polls carried out in the immediate days after the US-Israeli attack suggesting that most Americans disapprove of the war, in fact across the board, almost 70% of Americans, according to a CBS News poll, said Trump needs to get authorisation from Congress to continue military operations against Iran. One is reminded of something similar when the US invaded Iraq more than two decades ago. Then some dubbed it as “Sharon’s war fought by Bush,” now it is more like “Netanyahu’s fought by Trump”!

Indeed, on this note, Trump was quoted: “The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy [Iran], far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before.” Against this background, an abrupt claim of “a plot to overthrow the government” emerged being openly peddled to the Malaysian public. Interestingly enough it alleges the involvement of so-called “Zionists” among others in the plot, seemingly similar to previous experiences, but to no avail. Only this time, the US President himself is very much in the picture, still fresh from the DELIVERING PEACE AND PROSPERITY IN ONE HISTORIC DAY beyond the ASEAN meeting, no more than six-months ago! In short, how serious is the yearning for a lasting peace, is the key question that now boggles the mind!