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CIA's failed attempt to bribe Lee Kuan Yew

37 points by barry-cotter 3y ago

refurb 3y ago
The CIA offered to pay then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew USD$3.3 million to cover up the matter. Lee rejected the offer, and asked the U.S. to provide formal economic aid to Singapore instead. Wait, so instead of taking the money personally, he just asked the CIA to give it to Singapore? And he still kept it secret? Still sounds like a bribe to me.
- barry-cotter 3y ago
  Formal economic aid, i.e. public, announced, above board. The point of the whole exchange was to humiliate the CIA. They assumed Lee was for sale and he wasn’t and he could prove they tried to buy him.
  - refurb 3y ago
    But wouldn't the honorable thing to do be to reject anything?
    - dennis_jeeves1 3y ago
      [dead]
    - dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
      An individual would not be alive if he rejected any help, correct ? Think infant hood and childhood. A similar principle holds true for nations.
      - thunky 3y ago
        Are you implying that Singapore would have "died" without the $3.3 million?
        DANmode 3y ago
        No, they're (seemingly) implying that the circumstances under which someone accepts assistance very much dictates the morality.
    - barry-cotter 3y ago
      Why?
- BoorishBears 3y ago
  > In 1965, Lee revealed the incident in a televised interview with foreign correspondents. > This led the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia and the State Department to both deny the incident, which prompted a furious Lee to furnish Rusk's formal letter of apology as proof of the incident. > "The Americans should know the character of the men they are dealing with in Singapore and not get themselves further dragged into calumny.....They are not dealing with Ngo Dinh Diem or Syngman Rhee. You do not buy and sell this Government."
- boeingUH60 3y ago
  Aid for the country’s development and not for his personal pockets. It shows a lot about Lee’s character…many Asian, Latin American, and African leaders have sold out their countries for less. Singapore really lucked out having Lee Kuan Yew in charge in its early stages.
  - meyum33 3y ago
    There could be another way to look at it though. Xi and Putin would happily do the same: the countries are theirs.
  - refurb 3y ago
    But it's still a "gift" to keep quiet. It's not as bad as money in his pocket, but it's still money to keep quiet. It's the same as if someone tried to bribe me by giving money to my parents. It doesn't benefit me directly, but it benefits me.
    - guilhas 3y ago
      Yes, maybe all US foreign aid is a disguised bribe machine, political influence, natural resource contracts...
    - dchftcs 3y ago
      Bribery is bad primarily because it asks for someone to abandon their duties for personal gain. As the head of the state, his is responsible for the state, and not more. Here, he asked US to pay the state instead of himself. Whether or not it would actually turn out to be a net benefit to the state is one matter, but given the information we have, he acted in accordance to his duty. You can't call that bribery. Maybe you think he has a moral obligation to not keep quiet, and he defied that obligation. But no, that's not how it works. A head of state that chooses this as a hill to die on, regardless of trade-offs, is one that fails his people.
    - falcor84 3y ago
      Money transferred between the governments of two countries as part of cooperation on other issues is not really a gift in any sense of the word, but rather just diplomatic relations. In your metaphor, it's as if you're working to negotiate a deal on behalf of your parents for the family business.
WiSaGaN 3y ago
The interview in which Lee discussed the CIA bribery attempt : https://youtu.be/vNQXLhIcPrc https://youtu.be/vNQXLhIcPrc
MichaelZuo 3y ago
> "The Americans should know the character of the men they are dealing with in Singapore and not get themselves further dragged into calumny.....They are not dealing with Ngo Dinh Diem or Syngman Rhee. You do not buy and sell this Government." He definitely had character.
lgvln 3y ago
Lee Kuan Yew was an extremely savvy statesman. He likely knew that if he accepted the bribe, he will be forever beholden to the whims of the CIA. Based off his background (old moneyed, Cambridge educated) and how he governed Singapore (with an iron fist), obtaining more wealth was probably low on his list of priorities, what he wants is power.
dzonga 3y ago
if the cia didn't operate outside the scope of the law - cia members would definetily be getting arrested by the thousands.

37 points by barry-cotter 3y ago

The CIA offered to pay then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew USD$3.3 million to cover up the matter. Lee rejected the offer, and asked the U.S. to provide formal economic aid to Singapore instead. Wait, so instead of taking the money personally, he just asked the CIA to give it to Singapore? And he still kept it secret? Still sounds like a bribe to me.

barry-cotter 3y ago
Formal economic aid, i.e. public, announced, above board. The point of the whole exchange was to humiliate the CIA. They assumed Lee was for sale and he wasn’t and he could prove they tried to buy him.
- refurb 3y ago
  But wouldn't the honorable thing to do be to reject anything?
  - dennis_jeeves1 3y ago
    [dead]
  - dennis_jeeves2 3y ago
    An individual would not be alive if he rejected any help, correct ? Think infant hood and childhood. A similar principle holds true for nations.
    - thunky 3y ago
      Are you implying that Singapore would have "died" without the $3.3 million?
      - DANmode 3y ago
        No, they're (seemingly) implying that the circumstances under which someone accepts assistance very much dictates the morality.
  - barry-cotter 3y ago
    Why?
BoorishBears 3y ago
> In 1965, Lee revealed the incident in a televised interview with foreign correspondents. > This led the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia and the State Department to both deny the incident, which prompted a furious Lee to furnish Rusk's formal letter of apology as proof of the incident. > "The Americans should know the character of the men they are dealing with in Singapore and not get themselves further dragged into calumny.....They are not dealing with Ngo Dinh Diem or Syngman Rhee. You do not buy and sell this Government."
boeingUH60 3y ago
Aid for the country’s development and not for his personal pockets. It shows a lot about Lee’s character…many Asian, Latin American, and African leaders have sold out their countries for less. Singapore really lucked out having Lee Kuan Yew in charge in its early stages.
- meyum33 3y ago
  There could be another way to look at it though. Xi and Putin would happily do the same: the countries are theirs.
- refurb 3y ago
  But it's still a "gift" to keep quiet. It's not as bad as money in his pocket, but it's still money to keep quiet. It's the same as if someone tried to bribe me by giving money to my parents. It doesn't benefit me directly, but it benefits me.
  - guilhas 3y ago
    Yes, maybe all US foreign aid is a disguised bribe machine, political influence, natural resource contracts...
  - dchftcs 3y ago
    Bribery is bad primarily because it asks for someone to abandon their duties for personal gain. As the head of the state, his is responsible for the state, and not more. Here, he asked US to pay the state instead of himself. Whether or not it would actually turn out to be a net benefit to the state is one matter, but given the information we have, he acted in accordance to his duty. You can't call that bribery. Maybe you think he has a moral obligation to not keep quiet, and he defied that obligation. But no, that's not how it works. A head of state that chooses this as a hill to die on, regardless of trade-offs, is one that fails his people.
  - falcor84 3y ago
    Money transferred between the governments of two countries as part of cooperation on other issues is not really a gift in any sense of the word, but rather just diplomatic relations. In your metaphor, it's as if you're working to negotiate a deal on behalf of your parents for the family business.

WiSaGaN 3y ago

The interview in which Lee discussed the CIA bribery attempt : https://youtu.be/vNQXLhIcPrc https://youtu.be/vNQXLhIcPrc

MichaelZuo 3y ago

> "The Americans should know the character of the men they are dealing with in Singapore and not get themselves further dragged into calumny.....They are not dealing with Ngo Dinh Diem or Syngman Rhee. You do not buy and sell this Government." He definitely had character.

lgvln 3y ago

Lee Kuan Yew was an extremely savvy statesman. He likely knew that if he accepted the bribe, he will be forever beholden to the whims of the CIA. Based off his background (old moneyed, Cambridge educated) and how he governed Singapore (with an iron fist), obtaining more wealth was probably low on his list of priorities, what he wants is power.

dzonga 3y ago

if the cia didn't operate outside the scope of the law - cia members would definetily be getting arrested by the thousands.