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."
Anonymous 9916 : Well, Malaysia did not nip this scourge in the bud when it was needed. As we know certain people, certain groups, definitely certain states and certain political parties promote racism, hate culture, religious extremism and.bigotry. And please, the authorities and govt agencies, don't pretend as if you don't already know this had been happening since a long time ago. BTN, certain Islamist NGOs, certain persons (like Zakir Naik, Ibrahim Ali) had been allowed to run wild without prosecution. Those are some of the reasons this country is faced with this issue. The authorities are trying to make us all think, this problem is new, that is all hogwash.
This issue has been festering a long time. That's what happens when you allow govt agencies, individuals, political parties (like UMNO and PAS), to run wild with their brand of racism, hate rethorics and religious extremism. More appalling is that certain govt religious agencies have been accused of promoting these extremism and also involved in intimidation, even kidnapping, which is scary, isn't it? So, go on. Keep allowing these bigoted people, parties and agencies to promote their brand of extremism and this is what you'll get. Lets start calling a spade, a spade. Stop the denial. Be accountable.
Malaysiakini : COMMENT | Last month, the Royal
Malaysian Police (PDRM) arrested five suspected terrorists, among them
three foreigners including a former member of the Al Qaeda. They also
arrested a woman and a man from Sabah who were involved in terrorist
financing. Meanwhile, two months ago, the PDRM detained eight suspected
terrorists in Perlis comprising seven foreigners and a Malaysian.
Their aim was to establish a learning centre promoting Salafi
Jihadism in Southeast Asia. Last July, the PDRM also arrested another
seven suspected terrorists including three Indonesians and a woman who
were sending money regularly to Abu Gomez, a Malaysian terrorist in
Syria.
According to PDRM, since February 2013 more than 400 suspected
terrorists have been arrested including more than 40 women. Recently,
the inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun stated that a total
of 45 foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) have been detained since early
this year and most of them are ISIS-linked terrorists. The current
pattern of terrorist activities in Malaysia is startling.
The influx of FTFs from various foreign countries is a matter of
concern. These FTFs are from Europe, the US, the Middle East, South
Asia, East Asia and South East Asia. In my opinion, Malaysia is becoming a conducive environment or an
incubator for terrorist groups like Isis, Al Qaeda, the Abu Sayyaf
Group, the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation, the Jammtul Mujahideen, the
Lashkar-E-Taiba and other extremist groups who spread their ideology to
influence Malaysians to declare war on their own nation. In addition,
they also want to recruit locals based on their false religious
teachings by declaring the Malaysian democratic system as “toghut”, that
is, un-Islamic.
Further, the significant rise of women participation in terrorist
activities - especially in financing matters – is evident because they
pose less risk. Further, the terrorist groups view the contribution of
women highly and they are considered an integral part of terrorist
activities now.
The vigorous movement of terrorist groups within Malaysia indicates
that they are no longer interested in parallel activities outside of
Malaysia. Another serious indication is the rise in the detention of
women and foreigners for terrorist-related offences here. Therefore,
there is a very high possibility for terrorists to launch an attack in
Malaysia by targeting public places and prominent people.
Unfortunately, there are now calls by NGOs and human right
organisations in Malaysia to abolish security legislation like the
Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) and the Prevention
of Terrorism Act (Pota) When there is a conflict between individual rights and the rights of a
nation and its people, which one is more important? Can we allow one
person or a group of people to destroy this nation by killing innocent
children and women in the name of religion or the ideology they
subscribe to?
We must be foolish to believe that these hardcore terrorists who do
not accept our belief system will not harm us in the future. We must
recognise that these terrorists are a totally different breed of people.
For them, their ideology is the way of their life. They are very
difficult to reform. The classic example is Yazid Sufaat.
The real hypocrites
Under the Federal Constitution, Malaysians enjoy fundamental
liberties like the liberty of the person, protection against
retrospective criminal laws and repeated trials, equality and freedom of
speech, assembly and association. The question is whether these liberties can be a reason to undermine the peace and security of this nation.
I am a strong believer in the rule of law. The law must protect the
people. The requirement of human rights is fundamental in any legal
system. According to the World Justice Project's definition, the rule of
law is encompassed with accountability, just laws, an open government
and accessible and impartial dispute resolution.
But for the terrorists and their sympathisers, the rule of law is
irrelevant to them. They are in a different belief system which utterly
shelves the core aspects of universal human rights requirements. In
contrast, these people are relying on fundamental rights which are
enshrined in our Federal Constitution and UN’s Universal Declaration of
Human Rights to defend their rights and also to seek protection.
They don’t believe in the democratic system by declaring the said
system to be un-Islamic. But they rely on the very same system to seek
protection and justice. They are hypocrites.
Therefore, the calls to repeal security legislations like Sosma, Pota
and other security laws by the human right organisations in Malaysia
need to be considered by the current government with great attention by
looking into the consequences of repealing them. The main reason to call to repeal these legislations is because of
the way they were administered by the previous government. Those abuses
can be remedied with a mechanism for check-and-balance which can be
supervised by Parliament itself or by establishing a commission to
oversee the entire process.
These legislations are the key factors to manage the terrorist
threats in Malaysia apart from the de-radicalisation programme which is
well appreciated by other security agencies in the world. Countries like
the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and the US want to improve and tighten
up their existing security laws to deter their nationals and foreigners
from launching any attacks on their soil.
But in Malaysia, we moving towards the opposite direction on the said matter. It’s important to have key tools like the aforementioned legislations
which give authority to the security forces to monitor and detain
suspected terrorists and sympathisers to prevent any attacks in
Malaysia. They need to be stopped by all means and also to deter the
influence FTFs on locals which otherwise will disharmonise this nation.
Independent body
In a nutshell, the essential powers which are provided by security
legislation like Sosma and Pota are decisive for intelligence and
security forces to operate without fear or favour. These agencies cannot
and should not allow nor tolerate anyone posing a threat to our
national security.
These laws are so important to safeguard the sovereignty of this
nation. If any attacks happen in future, the intelligence and security
agencies will be blamed first by the people including by those who are
defending these terrorists.
The present government in their election manifesto had promised to
abolish these security laws but that can be circumvented by closing the
loopholes which allow these laws to be manipulated. Further, the laws
should also be amended to give the necessary protection to the detainees
held under them.
Further, the judges who are presiding over these type cases must be
given a free hand to determine the welfare of these detainees without
any interference or influence. Moreover, an independent body needs to be established comprised of
former judges, human rights lawyers, human rights campaigners,
laypersons and former intelligence and security personnel to evaluate
the conditions of these detainees.
Based on the report prepared by this body, the families of these
detainees and public will know the actual conditions they are being held
under. Further, the presiding judge can use this report as additional
information on whether the detainees have been treated fairly by the
security agencies.
Malaysia is in a new era. In this period, Malaysians should not
experience any suppression or oppression by anyone or by any agency.
That will not be tolerated. But the peace and security of this nation
are paramount.
Therefore, the current government should weigh the need to maintain
peace and security of this nation against the human right issues of
potential terrorists. For instance, in the UK and in other European
countries, many security legislation have been enacted recently and the
people there are willing to sacrifice their liberty with limitations.
They realise the importance of these laws to protect their freedom.
I am urging the present government not to abolished our existing
security laws but rather make some improvements on them by consulting
the relevant stakeholders. In my view, the law is not perfect but the
people who are entrusted to safeguard and exercise these laws need to be
transparent, accountable and of very high integrity to avoid them
abusing their position and power.
Yes, this is a very important security issue, and has to be looked into without delay or hesitation, lest we forget it in the euphoria of a New Malaysia.
Yes, this is a very important security issue, and has to be looked into without delay or hesitation, lest we forget it in the euphoria of a New Malaysia.