Posted on by Kit

If security forces given free hand to deal with Sulu gunmen as militants instead of as “intruders, neither militants nor terrorists”, Sabah Sulu crisis would have ended faster and without loss of lives of eight police personnel

Thirty days after the invasion of the east coast of Sabah by a ragtag group of armed militants and terrorists, resulting in the death of eight police personnel in Lahad Datu and Semporna some three weeks later accompanied by the most gruesome, barbaric and savage mutilation of some of the police personnel who were still alive, including finger-chopping, eye-ripping and beheading, the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa, who is also the chairman of the Sabah Security Committee, suddenly realized that the ragtag group of Sulu killers were not “intruders” but “terrorists”!

From yesterday, the media were directed by Musa to stop using the term “intruder” and to use “terrorist” instead.

But what is very strange is that it is not just the media who are guilty of the misnomer, all the top guns in government from political to security leadership, from the three Ministers who drop in and out of Sabah during the duration of the crisis, namely Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi and Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, to the security chiefs including the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar and the Armed Forces Chief Gen Zulkifeli Mohd Zin were all guilty for more than four weeks in using the misnomer.

Even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak when he finally visited Lahad Datuk on March 7, some 26 days after the first landing of Sulu terrorists on Feb. 9, also continued to talk about “intruders” instead of “terrorists” – betraying a serious problem of mindset of those responsible for managing the Sabah Sulu crisis.

There will be many unforgettable photographs preserving for posterity some the bloody and gruesome vignettes from the hitherto 30-day Sabah Sulu crisis. Among these unforgettable pics will be one showing the Home Minister in his first visit to Lahad Datuk on Feb. 18, peering at Kampong Tanduo through his powerful binoculars to survey the armed Sulu group and declaring that although the group was armed, they were “neither militants nor terrorists”.

A most shocking misjudgment costing human lives and colouring the mindset of the top political and security leadership when even at that time, it was already known that the Sulu armed group was dangerous as they were wielding M16, M14 and Baby Armalite assault weapons and M203 grenade launchers.

I have no doubt if the top security forces had been allowed a free hand to deal with the Sulu armed invasion, recognizing them from the start as “militants” instead of having to put up with the political leadership’s categorization branding them as “intruders – neither militants nor terrorists”, the eight police national heroes who were killed in Lahad Datu and Semporna would still be alive today and the Sabah Sulu crisis would have ended swiftly, surgically and even peacefully, instead of being dragged out for a month , involving protracted negotiations, stand-offs and shoot-outs, with no end yet in sight, and with such a heavy cost in human lives among the security forces.

Can Malaysians and the government learn from the expensive lessons in the failures in leadership and crisis management resulting in grave costs to human lives and people’s sufferings in the Sabah Sulu crisis?

Quite unlikely, when we remember another famous saying of another member of Najib’s Cabinet, this time Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen, the Tourism Minister – who said that Sabah is still safe for tourists when the Sabah tourism industry is suffering badly from the Sabah Sulu crisis!

24 Replies to “If security forces given free hand to deal with Sulu gunmen as militants instead of as “intruders, neither militants nor terrorists”, Sabah Sulu crisis would have ended faster and without loss of lives of eight police personnel”

  3. ///I have no doubt if the top security forces had been allowed a free hand to deal with the Sulu armed invasion, recognizing them from the start as “militants” instead of having to put up with the political leadership’s categorization branding them as “intruders – neither militants nor terrorists”, the eight police national heroes who were killed in Lahad Datu and Semporna would still be alive today and the Sabah Sulu crisis would have ended swiftly, surgically and even peacefully, instead of being dragged out for a month , involving protracted negotiations, stand-offs and shoot-outs, with no end yet in sight, and with such a heavy cost in human lives among the security forces.///–Kit

    Despite the RCI in Sabah, project M continues. The government considered them intruders carrying their personal effects, in the form of guns and mortars. For the first 20 days somebody must have been negotiating with or for them. As it had been so easy to become instant citizens, the intruders were not happy just to be given ICs. It is most probable that the intruders came in to ask for the payment of 5,300 Spanish Dollar in commensurate with its purchasing power in 1903. They might even want to take a lump sum payment for the next 999 years, the equivalent of eternity for land title deed. There must have been a broker negotiating on their behalf. Perhaps the margin of commission asked of them was not acceptable to the representative of the Sulu “landlord”, and to demonstrate the seriousness of their demand, they resorted to the tactic of secret society. The shooting on 5 March marked the change of their status from intruders to terrorists.

  4. In a nutshell, they are INCOMPETENT for the job and in their post ! They’re in their posting not because they’re capable (or, least suitable) in the first place. And in such crisis, (where lives at stake !) their incompetencies fully felt and punished with lost of precious lives (even one).
    They just didn’t grasp nor comprehend the grave situation at all.
    Even now, we still have tag along(s) for limelight !
    If they’re of mettle in their fields here, they would have resigned by now !

  8. Sulu sultan was very poor. He is paid only 5000 ringgit a year. How can he afford all those modern expensive weapons? Why is behind him? Were those weapons once supplied by our government?

  9. Miliant, intruders, terrorist? The real problem is they did not know what to call them in the first place because THE POLICY WAS UNCLEAR AND THE POLICY MAKER DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DO starting with Project IC AND MAHATHIR..

  11. Ironically, that is to say our Putrajava personnel have Cow-Q’s instead of IQ’s. Why not? They supported Cow-head protestants!

    In fact, they used police force was for some reasons…

    Theses were invaders nor intruders/ militants! Military forces should be deployed to fence them out straight without a question!

    Bunch of suckers with cow-heads and Cow-Q’s…

  12. The amazing part of the story – and Bigjoe comes closest – is the lack of any consistent policy. As I wrote some days ago, the real disaster is not the – for some – difficult decision between abang and terrorist. The real disaster that has cost lives unnecessarily was the complete unpreparedness by Malaysia for eventualities. It is not the shoot-now-shoot-all-question that RPK got wrong as well. There was a fortnight to at least prepare some strategy and get some personnel and material into the field only in case that things would turn ugly. Nothing like that was done, and that is most shocking. Even if you are not sure how much of an abang-style the whole setup is about, you need to be in a position to confidently state: “Peace. Give peace a chance! – You start shooting and you’ll be dead.” What we had, alas, were Malaysian security personnel running for cover once shooting started. And the next day, emboldened, the intruders shot dead some 6 police personnel.

  13. My personal syabas to Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen, the Tourism Minister and her brainchild ‘truly Asia’ or cuti-cuti Malaysia.Anyone to accompany Datuk Seri NYY over there to chill out?..or freak out?! Choose your pick properly as and when you’re at the GE13 polls. ABU!!!

  15. We accorded these militants special treatment purely because they are from the Nusantara region and have the same religion as our decision makers but unfortunately they didn’t reciprocate our magnanimity. Had they not resorted to violence, they may still be considered as intruders and negotiations to find an amicable solution to the stand-off may still be going on.

  21. UTK well-trained to use C4 to get rid of “not wanted anymore mistress”….. to gas off the peaceful protesters /demonstrators and opposition leaders

    Are they well trained to face the real danger such as when facing the terrorist?

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