YOURSAY 'His remark that ‘they are neither militants nor terrorists' was more irresponsible because it lulled our security into a false sense of security.'

Politicians who can't help should shut up on Ops Daulat

Paul Warren: The writer, Francis Siah, forgets that it was politics that led to the Sabah crisis. Its genesis was politics. That it has been left unsorted for so long had to do with politics, and I do believe with a cart load of arrogance as well.

If this threat, that was recognised well before 2008, had not been monitored, it would once again be politics that has led to the present crisis.

We just have to consider the resources that are allocated to ensure Umno remains in power rather than looking at the real threats to national security that none of us saw coming.

Were our intelligence services so inefficient? A slight like this in Israel and the whole nation would have gone on alert. And a bungle like this in Israel may have led to the intelligence heads rolling.

In Malaysia, so far, I have heard nothing of what the intelligence services have to say over their oversight. If everyone had done what was right, we would not be seeing our security personnel's lives put in danger like this.

Starr: The Lahad Datu armed intrusion highlights the fact that the country's security network, be it the military intelligence, military preparedness and responsiveness, have failed.

The armed intruders slipped past our defences, landed on Sabah shores and set up base camp on Feb 9, before our security forces were alerted to it on Feb 12.

Criticisms from the public and the politicians alike are to hold those responsible for the security and defence of the country to account. Such criticisms are not meant to put down our security forces, but bring some serious questions into play.

More important, the federal government must be held responsible for the influx of illegal immigrants into Sabah over the years, contributing to the dire security situation.

It highlights that the country's security can't be compromised, not even for political expediency of Umno-BN. Allegations of conspiracy are uncalled for but criticisms must be levelled against the government for its failures.

Dr Yap Yit Thong: I agree absolutely with the writer. Let us salute our soldiers who are fighting bravely to protect our sovereignty and let us put aside our differences and stand together as Malaysians.

Saengch: Telling people to shut up is the first step toward authoritarianism. Consider the danger that even top opposition leader Lim Kit Siang has been forced to rally behind the government just to pre-empt criticism (such as this opinion piece) that the opposition may be unpatriotic for asking questions.

The danger of war is always that it silences dissidents in the name of patriotism, giving more power to the government, and tempting it to conduct more war.

Unspin: If there is one politician who should shut his gap and not get involved in this operations anymore is our intellectually-challenged home minister.

His remark that "they are neither militants nor terrorists " was 200 percent more irresponsible than PKR veep Tian Chua's because it lulled our forces into a false sense of security.

When this insurgency is over and a post-mortem is conducted, one should not be surprised that Hishammuddin Hussein had made the wrong call at the start of this conflict because he needed his 15 minutes of fame.

Joe Fernandez The fact is that it's easy to create a Lahad Datu-type incident in Sabah. It was not necessary for the so-called Sulu people and their Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) comrades to come over to Sabah.

These people are already in Sabah, in their thousands. MNLF must be taken seriously when they said they were trained by Malaysia and have arms hidden in Sabah.

Indeed, the MNLF has no business getting involved in the so-called claim to Sabah. So, what's their motive in latching on to the Sulu sultanate?

Obviously, they don't want to be left out of the peace process in southern Philippines between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an MNLF breakaway, and the Manila government. MNLF was part of an earlier peace process but has since lost its clout and eclipsed by MILF.

Since PM Najib Razak facilitated the peace process, the MNLF is flexing its muscles in Sabah.

Fairplayer: I can't help but feel something fishy has been going on, especially with the weapons supplied by the then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Malaysia (which PM was in power then?) giving the green light to the terrorists to use Sabah as their training ground. This is lunacy of the highest kind.

Dr No: It is a regrettable for the writer to argue that people should shut up unless they are willing to be actually on the battleground. Even if there is a war, intellectual discourse is still very much needed.

If you disagree, by all means put forward your points. Freedom of speech is never the problem, the content of the speech can of course be disputed.

I think also it is very immature when there is legitimate criticism to the government at this time, it is tantamount to disrespect of the security forces and family. That is drawing a totally illogical correlation between the two.

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