LAHAD DATU INCURSION; a testament of Najib’s blunders

Lahad Datu incursion; a testament of Najib’s blunders

We do not need rocket science to ensure that our sovereignty is intact especially from intruders like the ones frequenting Sabah who were armed but still rag-tag compared to our armed forces.

But UMNO ministers are either “kelam-kabut” or couldn’t care less. Remember the tsunami threat last year where the various bodies and authorities issued irrelevant and conflicting instructions and information. It was just fortunate that not much happened but none of the ministers came forward to give assurance, guidance and lead the people. We were left to our own perils while they were too busy attending the ceremony in the new National Palace. Why can’t even one of the senior ministers take charge?

There must be an effort to make sure that we do not have real enemies capable of armed incursions. This could be achieved by having reliable and proactive intelligence that can pre-empt any such moves.

After having the intelligence, we must act to nullify the threat, pacify or delay the efforts for us to get ready. In getting ready, the logistics, communications and central command are crucial, thus the first line of defence could be in place along the shores of Sabah both on land and offshore. This entails enough security personnel, patrol boats and naval vessels.

Therefore the two RM7.3 billion useless Scorpene-Altantuya submarines are a waste of money. Expensive, overpaid, undelivered and non-conforming naval vessels being produced in the Boustead Naval Shipyard won’t work either. The intelligence department is more interested in spying the leaders of the opposition.

When none of the above was in place, it is so easy for such armed intruders to create trouble. But than, we still have the security forces and in such scenario, was the decision to use the police a wise or correct one? Remember the PDRM is a peace-keeping and law enforcement force. Even its notorious FRU is incapable to fight a war simply because they are not trained to do so. The PDRM can be a trigger happy lot at times, but warfare is warfare.

In all probabilities, the six dead police personnel were unsure of what to do and would not even realize what hit them! The PDRM has not been trained to operate in jungles or even in palm oil plantations! They could not even maneuver in such areas and have an action plan! The death of the six police personnel is therefore wasteful and unnecessary.

We can conclude that both Najib and his cousin Hishamuddin are foolish and incapable to hold their ministerial positions. Even if they have some hidden agendas to ensure the Sabahans will vote BN as have been announced by the EC Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof announce that the EC has a contingency plan for elections in Sabah right from the shelf which is not surprising really, but why go to such extent? Can’t it be less costly and less dramatic?

Any right-minded army general should know that in the Lahad Datu incident where the intruders were armed and in military fatigue and they openly declared to take Sabah by force, the right enforcement body is indeed the Malaysian military and Najib should not have second thoughts about it. Then there should not be any negotiations, just give then the ultimatum and when the time runs out, just shoot!

Our army has 50 over years of experience and all trained in jungle warfare and palm oil plantations as well. With their capabilities even two platoons of the Ranger Regiment could easily nullify the intruders without any lost of lives on our part.

Najib is not thinking of saving lives, money and time. He needs this incident for his political mileage, to win the GE-13. But it definitely has backfired and in trying to blame Anwar for the fiasco, not many will buy that. At least the effect of this conflict could go both ways but surely not to the real advantage of Najib or what he expected to achieve because it has an international angle to it and this affair is slowly but surely reverberating across the Sulu Sea. This incident is not over yet.

The only noticeable advantage to Najib that has happened thus far as a result of the Lahad Datu debacle is overshadowing the issues exposed by Deepak Jaikishan and Balasubramaniam. Najib may wish to prolong the conflict so that the nation will focus on this issue and forget about all the other important matters in the country. But he has no more excuses to delay in resolving it. Thus with the unnecessary show of strength, all the military might was used as an overkill. Well, Israel practiced this same tactic in punishing the Palestinians, and we know who Najib looked at to resolve this incident.

But this is typical of UMNO. They are more capable of siphoning the wealth of the country, rather than keeping it safe. Just look at the crime rates. The indecisive Najib continues to make blunders and finally the biggest blunder for UMNO is losing the GE-13 and for Malaysia; going bankrupt.