YOURSAY ‘It hurts and grieves me to see the widows and children they had left behind. Let us record our gratitude and remember them in our bereavement.'

Bodies in Semporna were mutilated, confirm police

your say Malaysian Born: Regardless of any claim by the so-called Sulu sultanate, the action of this group - by entering the country and carrying arms - can be described as an invasion.

By their mutilation of our security forces personnel (in this case, our police officers) they are behaving like terrorists and should be treated as such.

If the blood of our loyal armed forces is to be shed for the protection of our country, let it not be because we did not understand the nature of the animal.

These people are trying to score points in their real home in the Philippines and don't care about what we think about them and certainly don't care how many of our people perish.

The families of our fallen deserve to know that we took care of these invaders in the way they deserve.

Cannon: We are all sadden and angry. As a father with grown-up sons, my heart goes out to our servicemen, brave lads who are called to face acute danger, bear the burden and hardship of defending our security, and even to pay the ultimate price.

It hurts and grieves me to see the widows and children they had left behind. Let us record our gratitude and remember them in our bereavement.

This regime, which does not own up to its responsibilities or admit to any shortcomings, is not worthy of these men.

Malaysians deserve a better government. Let us pray for a quick end to this crisis and for the safety, protection and deliverance of our servicemen.

Alitstar: Cannon, it's true. In war time, we appreciate them. In peace time, we ridicule them (not we, some others). Yet when duty calls, these men just go knowing that they may not come back.

Our gratitude and appreciation to all armed forces around the world with the hope that all kinds of war will be eradicated from this planet.

Cannon: Alitstar, my issue is with our government. The foot soldiers - fighting men and their superiors - who act on orders, are the ones who bear the brunt of the hardship. They deserve our respect and support.

Yes, we have our beef with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM). They mistreat civilians and are heavy-handed with civil protesters, but that is a separate issue. In difficult times such as this, we lay aside our differences and stand behind them. We are Malaysians still.

Samuel Ng: The security of a nation should never be judged by religious affinity. It is so sad that only through the death and mutilation of our security personnel that our political leaders are awaken.

No ceasefire, the intruders must be brought to justice for the death of our eight security personnel.

Cannon: Samuel Ng, I doubt what you said is true - that the security of a nation should never be judged by religious affinity.

This may generally be true, but as far as our political rulers go, if there is a lesson they can learn from this episode, it is to play up religion some more.

The council of ulama made a declaration, which was reported on TV, that our fallen soldiers are admitted as martyrs and will go to paradise. This regime is in need of some help from its clerics to give its politicians a soft landing.

They have opened up the floodgates to let the illegals into Sabah. Now when push comes to shove, having to answer for the fatalities, they play gods opening heaven's door to our fallen men.

If these clerics have power to grant such easy grace, you should see the ‘jaguh ugama' types coming forward. Do you? This regime is still playing the religion card to the hilt.

Gen2: On Tuesday, we heard these famous words "The enemy has been totally defeated". These words will live forever as words of infamy in Malaysian memory.

We should frame them up and hang them on walls in our police and military colleges. Don't get me wrong. It is not meant to insult our armed forces but to teach the new generation of police and army officers not to be too arrogant or overconfident.

This is a new kind of enemy of our own creation through the Project IC, our Muslim brotherly love and lax border controls.

Onyourtoes: They said we must support our security personnel and I fully agree with that. But by looking at the series of events unfolding, I am beginning to doubt our capability in doing things efficiently and effectively. It is like our incompetency is now everywhere.

I have a few questions and I hope the authorities can really answer them:

1. Was it true there were about 150-300 armed intruders sighted earlier?

2. How did we confirm that, by hearsay or clear evidence? If they were armed, what kind of weapons did they have?

3. Why did we use in the air strike?

4. Did we have the intelligence and the exact targets?

5. Who are in control of the situation in Sabah now, the armed forces or the police?

6. All these years did we ever gather any intelligence at all of their movement and network in Sabah?

Joe Fernandez: It's not necessary for the Sulu people and the Moro National Liberation Fund (MNLF) to come over to Sabah. They are there all the time in their thousands and with MyKads too.

It's easy to create Lahad Datu-type incidents in Sabah. Just go and surround any village in the east coast and demand that the "intruders" or "terrorists" there to surrender.

Meanwhile, tell some fool in Manila to claim to he is the Sulu sultan and ask him to issue statements.

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