The Tumpat member of parliament, Kamaruddin Jaffar, cannot be more correct when he said that Wisma Putra should depend on its own diplomatic corp in Washington to undertake any lobbying if it is in the interest of the nation. (See "No need outside lobbyists if we train our diplomats").

His statement however underlines a basic characteristic of most Muslim regimes around the world. They are so bent on proving to themselves and their peoples that only by securing an audience with the American president can they have legitimacy. Such self-fulfilling idiocacy speaks volumes of the Muslim world's state of affairs.

Prime minister Najib Razak reportedly boasted about his upcoming meeting with US president Barack Obama. Against a backdrop of the Apco exposure by the Opposition Leader, it doesn't take a savvy diplomat to understand how such a meeting was secured. After all, we all remember how, not very long ago, a great Malaysian statesman who was famous for anti-West speeches, was almost on his knees begging for an audience with the then US president George Bush, so that he can be photographed together.

Such is the depth of the Muslim world's decline. We have lost all shame and self-dignity. Devoid of legitimacy in the eyes of their peoples, Muslim leaders, both the wealthy and the poor, now have to wait at the doorstep of the White House so that it can decide whether or not to meet them.

There are however exceptions. Such servitude displayed by the Muslim leaders stark in contrast with the impending meeting of the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In this case, Erdogan is meeting Obama on a position of strength, especially with the recent strong stance taken by Turkey vis-a-vis the Zionist regime, as well as its vehement opposition to US attempts to isolate Iran.

That Turkey, once the darling of the West and an Israeli poodle, can make their stance loud and clear shows that it has come out of decades of decline and lack of self-esteem.

Similarly, Iran's president Mahmud Ahmadinejad did not jump in joy when Obama extended his "hand of friendship" (only to follow it up with attempts by his State Secretary Hillary Clinton to spread lies about its nuclear project). Instead, he gave Obama a lecture to change the US's arrogant ways in dealing with the Muslim world.

Can our leaders show the same level of dignity? No. Because, in the first place, they were losing sleep thinking of ways how to see the Great Leader of the civilised world!

It is not same when one sees the 'king' on a position of strength and on a position of weakness and low self-esteem.