YOURSAY ‘Eight Malaysian police have lost their lives. Explain that to their families and their children. They are Muslims too.'

Dr M admits gov't misread Lahad Datu situation

your say Brahman: "That's why we acted cautiously at first. After all, they are Muslims, and we are Muslims. We do not want to be hasty, but they acted in bad faith by gunning down two of our policemen," said former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In others words, if they are not Muslims, the police would go in with all guns blazing.

The fact is religion should not be factor in the security of the country. These intruders are not Malaysians. They entered our country illegally, not through the proper channels. And they are armed. That should be good enough for the police to take action, irrespective of their race or religion.

Because people in power like Mahathir have been using religion and race, eight Malaysian police have lost their lives. Explain that to their families and their children. They are Muslims too.

Broken Foot:

The facts are, 200-odd men dressed in military fatigues, armed to the teeth landed at Kampung Tanduo, with the intention of staking their claim on Sabah as their territory and that they are willing to die for it.

Any reasonable person would have concluded that this is an armed invasion. Perhaps, former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad mistook the invaders' military ration as a picnic basket, and thought they were harmless.

Being Muslims is no excuse to treat them with kid gloves when they invade another Muslim land with an intent to cause harm. Throughout history, Muslims have been killing other Muslims for the most inconsequential of reasons. This has become a Catch-22 situation.

Damn if you do, and damned if you don't. Perhaps, we should just rout them out as a statement that any future incursion will be met with deadly force.

Mahathir is making statements as if he is the PM. The last time I checked, Najib Abdul Razak is the sitting PM. Perhaps, Najib is too busy giving out the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) that he has no time to care that our territory is under siege.

Cannon: Mahathir owes an apology to the nation, families of the police personnel killed by the militants, villagers and the fisherfolk who have been displaced by the incursion and whose livelihood have been disrupted by the prolonged crisis.

The PM, home minister and defence minister all should apologise to the nation and resign for failing in their duty to defend our country's territorial integrity and protect the people of Sabah.

Their mishandling of the incursion treating the violent criminals who invaded our shores bearing war weapons, as "neither militants or terrorists", is outrageous. This massive misjudgement cost the lives of our police personnel.

The bungling and cover-up continues. The inspector-general of police (IGP) declared that the situation has returned to normal. How can that be?

The remaining holdouts - some 200 of them, armed and violent - are still dug in at Lahat Datu; the other armed groups have not been neutralised, and the villagers are still unable to return to their farms and homes.

BujangSenang:

Mahathir, do you mean to say if they were of other religious beliefs, we would attacked them in the initial stages? Why bring in race or religion? If they are intruders, they are intruders.

He said the government did not want to kill them because they also have families and friends in Sabah. But who gave identity cards (ICs) to the illegal immigrants so that they can vote for Umno?

Ferdtan: "At first we did not think the intrusion was as an external threat for they were on our shore. However, when it is clear that the invasion is an attack from outside, the military was ordered to move in.

"The government did not want to kill them because they also have families and friends in Sabah. After all, they are Muslims, and we are Muslims. We are now calling for the armed intruders to be ‘eliminated'."

Was it the statement from our PM? Yes and no. Yes, it is from a de facto PM, Mahathir. No, it is not from the sitting PM, Najib Razak.

Besides, from the racialist tone of the comment we can even smell from afar that it has Mahathir's stamp all over it. He is still playing racialist politics despite the deaths of eight of our men.

Mahathir, what can we tell to the families of these eight cops (let's forget that they are Muslims too as it is irreverent here)? Should we tell them, "Oops we, the government, made a small mistake"?

Anonymous #02382443:

It sounds like he is still in charge. But whatever he says does not absolve him of allowing the issuance of ICs to Filipinos, which has now compounded the problem. How are we to distinguish between friends and foes among us?

Telestai!: Mahathir, who are you to speak for the Malaysian government when you are neither an MP, nor a government official?

Secondly, who are you trying to con when it was known to all and sundry that it was a foreign invasion by the an external force armed to the teeth.

Instead of sending the military, the government sent in the police, which is responsible for domestic security. I am sure there is more than meets the eye and the government is hiding something.

Hold Awam Accountable: Eh, it took this long for our government to decide that the intruders were an external threat? Is it because the 'foreigners' in Sabah, with their newly minted ICs and flawless Malay accents, now walk freely among us, undetected?

Onyourtoes: I have a better idea - just airdrop Mahathir into Kampung Tanduo or Semporna and leave him there alone till he solves the problem. He created it, he must solve it.

We shall see whether his "distant cousins and relatives" would treat him kindly. It is time to put this nincompoop to pasture. He is a real liability to this country, whatever way we look at it. Only bigger nincompoops (like those in Perkasa) would ever respect and worship him.

Putrajaya has imported Moro militancy into Sabah

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