Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
James Dean: Where is our defence minister? Our borders have been breached by a group of armed intruders. What has happened to our armed forces? We are supposed to have
high-tech surveillance aircraft and super-duper Scorpene submarines and
yet they cannot detect this group of insurgents? I believe this
is a group of no ordinary armed people - they are testing our line of
defence and may possibly be an advance group for bigger things to come
in the future. We, the rakyat want some answers and we want it quick. From news reports, it looks like Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi has
washed his hands off this issue as only Home Minister Hishammuddin
Hussein is doing the talking. No matter how quiet he remains, this is an
issue for the defence minister to answer.
Quigonbond:
It strikes me as strange that we have immigration checkpoints and if a
person does not have a passport, or they have a passport/visa, etc, but
they do not clear the checkpoint for a variety of reasons such as drug
trafficking or arms smuggling, they would not be deported, but probably
arrested and charged with offences ranging from illegally carrying
firearms or worse, drug trafficking. Hence, many Malaysiakini
commentators are correct to raise the concern - you have a bunch of
militants coming into a Malaysian village without clearing immigration,
why haven't the law been enforced against them? The officials
already said they are armed, hence if they haven't enforced the law,
this is in effect a stand-off. I say this is no longer within
Hishammuddin's pay-grade to handle, but for the PM to handle. How
our PM can still be going around attending signing ceremonies instead
of being in the ‘war room' when there's an incursion into Malaysian
territory is beyond comprehension.
Righteous:
Is this BN's backup plan to reinstate the Emergency Ordinance? No one
can get within 20km of the village and we can't trust the government to
tell the truth.
Storm: Is it 100 or 400 or 4,000 men? What is the actual number of people invading us?
LittleGiant: This
‘drama' has been going on for about 10 days now and it is very shameful
that the government is clearly "wishy washy" in dealing with the group
of invaders which our home minister now claims are neither militants nor
terrorists. Does it mean that the minister feels satisfied that
these invaders who entered the country illegally do not pose a threat to
the nation's security? The group is not holding anyone hostage.
So what is the government afraid of? Or is the government considering
some options that could be favourable to Umno-BN, including absorbing
them into Project IC and providing them with citizenship and blue ICs
(identity cards) and even making them legal voters so that these
‘invaders' could vote for BN in the upcoming elections? By the
way, I can't imagine how the government, so glaringly lacking in its
firmness to deal with a bunch of armed illegals, would have handled this
incident if they were holed up in Kuala Lumpur or in Putrajaya or in
some densely populated or sensitive areas in the country.
Blackmoon:
Malaysians are not barbarians like the President George Bush's army
that invaded Iraq which had blood on their minds. If we can solve the
situation with diplomacy, why the need to use force? (Pussy! George Bush is my hero-edit)
Keneoh:
If they are unarmed, why would there be bloodshed? If they are armed,
why are they allowed to stay in Sabah, as obviously there is malicious
intent?
Gen Half Track: What's all the fuss about? These armed men are the representatives of the landlord of this real estate to whom we pay rental. These
men are here to check if the property should be further leased or else
they will repossess it and lease it to a new tenant. Check out this link.
Saddened: My
intuition tells me that there is a hidden agenda behind this intrusion.
There is a frightening silence from the ruling party and the relevant
authorities.
Fairnessforall: Maybe this is
actually planned by Umno to frighten the Sabahans to vote for BN. That
is why Hishammuddin is doing nothing to deport them.
Yahoo: This
group is a standby; if and when BN loses the general election, they
will cause havoc and then the premier will find an excuse to declare an
emergency. They could be mercenaries paid by the richest man in
Malaysia.
It's Time To Change: The Suluk
Muslims know that the Malaysian government won't dare to send them back
to the Philippines because it has been secretly supporting and helping
all those Muslim groups in southern Philippines to fight against
Philippine government for centuries. Therefore they are brave to
come here in hundreds with weapons and believe me, they won't go away.
More are coming to Sabah to stay and they will get their ICs soon.
Oscar Kilo:
I wonder why Hishammuddin is so eager to end this intrusion without
bloodshed whereas thousands of peaceful Malaysians were bashed during
the Bersih rallies.
Jean Pierre: What did Bersih protesters, Hindraf protesters and Altantuya Shaariibuu have in common? They were all unarmed.
Sontha Makkal:
BN is cautious because there is a 'fixed deposit' of hundreds of
thousands of Muslim Filipinos in Sabah who have been given blue ICs and
native status and helped put BN in power. Any wrong move could jeopardise this 'fixed deposit' in the coming GE. Another political move is that with this 'standoff', BN can mobilise
and station thousands from the army and from Rela to the so-called 'hot
spots' to act as a vote bank in Pakatan strongholds.
Bystander:
It is an illegal border crossing and they are also fully armed and yet
our home minister can insinuate it is not alarming. Did they go through
immigration like bona fide visitors? Australian Senator Nick
Xenophon came in as a lawmaker from a developed country and with all
necessary documentation, including a letter to certify he had an
appointment with our de facto law minister. But he was sent back on the next available flight to Sydney. How ironic and stupid can all this be?
NoNoNo:
I'm surprised to find out that the gunmen have been in Lahad Datu since
Feb 9. More than 10 days have passed and the local people must feel
scared. Has government done anything to evacuate them to a safer place? I
cannot understand why the government is using police to deal with a
heavily-armed militia? Who the gunmen wanted to meet and why? Time will
reveal all. Due to slow action, I believe everyone is jumping to conclusion that we cannot rely on BN to protect our nation.
Acitizen: There is no other way to look at the armed group other than to classify it as a invasion force. Period. That this can be tolerated by the Malaysian authorities is alarming.
Perhaps it is because the group is Muslim? What would have happened if
100 armed Vietnamese or Chinese from China were to land in Sabah and
take over Lahad Datu? An invasion is a invasion. Take action or more will come.
Abuminable: The whole murky episode comes across as another evil scheme that has backfired. Just as the CIA created the Taliban to harass the Soviets in
Afghanistan and later realised they had actually created a monster,
these militant groups from southern Philippines now pose a very sticky
problem for Malaysia. Malaysiakini
