YOURSAY 'There must be a call for a public inquiry on the handling of the messed-up negotiation with the intruders to ensure a lesson is learnt.'

14 killed in Lahad Datu firefight, including 2 M'sians

AnakBangsaMalaysia: In terms of military strategy, this has been a complete disaster right from the start.

The Lahad Datu crisis, for all intents and purposes, is a military invasion by a battalion-strength group of heavily-armed and experienced foreign gunmen who succeeded in penetrating our maritime borders and occupying our territory undetected.

Then, instead of immediately attacking and dislodging these invaders from their beachhead - as would have been done by any half-competent military command, the Malaysian government gave the invaders more than three weeks to dig in and prepare their defences at leisure.

We will incur more casualties now than we would have if we had acted immediately and decisively. The long delay in taking action means our soldiers will be facing a prepared defence and will almost certainly take more casualties.

The blood of our soldiers will be on the hands of the criminally incompetent BN government - especially the PM, defence minister and home minister.

Cannon: "They are neither militants nor terrorists ," said Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

Hisham should repeat these words to the grieving families of the those killed and injured. This is the consequence for having the mongoloid of a minister in the Home Ministry.

Let him handle any non-issue and it will blow up into a national crisis. It's no longer funny when lives are being lost. Malaysians should demand an accounting from PM Najib Razak and his cousin.

It is not so much the armed intruders but Najib and his cousin who are cornered at Lahat Datu. Our security personnel are required to pay with their blood given the incompetence and political expedience of these two cousins.

This armed intrusion is a matter for the military to handle, not the police. We are dealing with battle-hardened combatants equipped with military weapons, not some Bersih street protesters.

Najib is playing politics with our national security, hoping against hope that if he sits on the problem long enough, it would go away. He is afraid of taking action that may neutralise Umno's position of strength in the hordes of "gray" voters it has created in Sabah.

Now that advantage disappears as the regime is finally cornered by circumstance to act against the armed intruders.

Cogito Ergo Sum: If you are incapable of a decisive action on such a fundamental issue as the invasion of our territory, how can you govern the rest of the country?

Fredtan: Two of our police officers were unnecessarily killed due to the ineptitude handling of the Lahad Datu intruders by our government.

On hindsight, would it be able to save the lives of our cops if we were to handle the situation differently? Were we too soft with the intruders? Many think so.

If the negotiators from our side were tough with them at the very beginning and made a decision (a targeted D-day) to end the deadlock, say a week, then the casualties from our side would not have happened.

The scenario was made easy because the armed intruders didn't hold hostages and were isolated from the general population. It was easy to pick them out. The police force in charge of the operation apparently showed indecisiveness and let the intruders dug in.

Like most of us said earlier, our army, which is trained for military combat, should be the one to handle the ‘invasion' instead of our crime-fighting police force.

There must be a call for a public inquiry on the handling of the messed-up negotiation with the intruders to ensure a lesson is learnt.

Malaysian Born: It is never a good thing to shed blood and take lives. However when the country's sovereignty and security are at risk, when invaders walk in armed with lethal military weapons and say that they are taking our land, then our military has absolutely no choice but to act.

At this point, the only way to avoid casualties is for the invaders to sound the retreat and run or to surrender unconditionally.

This situation is clearly the product of our earlier lax policy decisions and unofficial deals, and this is exacerbated by the official involvement in the issuance of fraudulent permanent residency and identity cards to illegal immigrants in the state.

The army is not a tool of diplomacy. Our territorial integrity is not subject to the whims and fancies of outsiders (regardless of whom) and their so-called "picnics" .

When our army takes action as they must, there will be casualties. I pray our soldiers stay safe and wish them godspeed and success.

Cocomomo: My deepest sympathies to the families of the two brave Malaysians. The government must explain how armed men can enter the country without detection supposedly so easily. Could the situation have been better managed if the armed forces had been allowed to act earlier?

Our security has been compromised and the ministers responsible must take responsibility. The armed intruders must be tried in a Malaysian court and charged with waging war against the Agong.

Bamboo: What goes around comes around. Malaysia has been pampering the militants of southern Philippines and southern Thailand. So now we get a dose of the same medicine, dealing with militants on our soil.

Vijay47: For a relatively minor 'paper' offence of allegedly having a fake passport, a family member of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman was removed from a plane just minutes before take-off, hurriedly charged within two days in makeshift court at a hospital on a Sunday, and sentenced to two years imprisonment.

All this, not out of any great concern for the law or Malaysia's sovereignty but to protect the hide of the person wanted for far greater crimes in the Philippines.

Now we have armed men attacking our country, killing two soldiers, and the government wants to allow them a free cruise out of the country.

For what they did in Lahad Datu, they can be charged with any number of crimes, including and especially waging war against the king and yet Najib and his cousin see it fit to let them go free as birds.

This fresh effort to "retain Putrajaya whatever it takes" will come back to haunt you, Najib, and you will always be what you are - not a statesman but a typical self-serving Umno politician.

Gun battle could be avoided had Navy been vigilant

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