Arms Heist At Grik Camp And Bukit Jenalik Drama - A Military And Political Assessment

We can freshly recall the sequence of events from the time the drama took place at the Kuala Rui military outpost, followed by the arms heist at Grik camp until the 'heroic act' of Lt Jen Datuk Zaini at Bukit Jenalik, resulting in the eventual surrender of the whole gang. Heartfelt condolences to the families of the late commando, Mathew anak Medan and Detective Kpl Sagadevan who were killed in the operation.

A day after the arms heist, I thought the group would have crossed the border to South Thailand, ready to trade with arms buyers who would pay at least RM200,000 for the whole arsenal which would then be in the possession of either Abu Sayyaf, Acheh or PULO group. The road between Grik and Pengkalan Hulu (Kroh) has numerous tracks leading to South Thailand. It would take about 20 minutes to disappear from Malaysian territory and be out of Malaysian police and military detection. However, this logical assessment proved to be all wrong. The mainstream media reported that a few days before and after the incident, the suspects were spotted by villagers in the vicinity of Bukit Jenalik and laer, abandoned vehicles were found. To make it look more interesting, documents identifying the group with name lists were found in the vehicles - so, we were dealing with 'amateurish criminals'. Talking about amateurs, Kapt. Jamaludin Darus, a serving army officer who would have been in the army for at least 10 years couldn't possibly be an amateur. The training and exposure that he had, would not allow him to agree to a choice of a tactically unsound defensive position like Bukit Jenalik, reason being :

• Too near the main road
• Within sighting and hearing distance of villagers
• Easily accessible to police and military detection
• Easy for police and military to conduct food and water denial operations, cordon and search as well as
  psychological operations, not to mention commando sniper deployment and raids.
• No escape route for clean get-away or replenishment of food and water supply
• Hastily prepared with no overhead protection from indirect fire weapons

In addition to all these weaknesses, it was reported that most members of the group still have no idea of how to handle the newly stolen 'sophisticated' weapons. Rather surprising for a serving captain - at one moment, he brilliantly deceived the guards at the camp into surrendering their weapons and the next moment, he turned out to be a dumb fool! It is even more surprising that no focus was made by the media about this Captain - how and why he got involved whether his wife is unaware or has given her blessings. A few seconds were focussed on his wife who closed her door to reporters, refusing to answer any questions since she has been separated from him, it seems. It is not daily that we get news of a serving army officer of that rank becoming a criminal. The public would surely be curious as to why an officer of such an honourable rank and appointment, holding a commission bestowed by the Yang DiPertuan Agong, resorts to crime with a 'cult group'

As expected, Mahathir zeroes in on PAS whom he said will justify the group's actions just like what happened at Memali in November 1985. Too bad the army had to be the boo-boys and Najib's reputation goes through a ad patch. Kadir Jasin (other Thots NST 9 July 2000) was quick to condemn generals and the military system and in the same breath said, 'Syabas' to Pak Lah for 'taking the bull by the horns'. What outstanding thing did Pak Lah do? God knows!

Since police brutality took a beating last year, the score between Pak Lah and Najib now stands at 1-1. a 'sudden death' golden goal will kick one of them out unless a penalty shootout is needed. Jokes aside, I'm sure every reader has never heard of 'Al-Ma'unah' before 1st July 2000. Suddenly it surfaced in a very ugly manner. Reportedly, the raiders came in 3 pajeros with military tac signs - good enough for deception but has anyone in the military ever bother to think how 3 pajeros can accommodate the whole arsenal of arms and ammunition. (97 x M16 rifles, 2 x AUG steyr rifles, 4 x General Purpose Machine Guns, 5 x M203 Grenade Launchers, 54 x Flaretrip wires, 26 x bayonets, 5000 rounds of ammunition and 40 x grenades) together with 15 men !! Bad planning or bad imagination? At Bukit Jenalik, they fired a few rounds to test the weapons, giving their position away - as if the earlier activities were not enough.

If the captain was the military advisor, he has failed miserably. The mainstream media also failed to report how they got the guards to open the armoury and ammunition dump - for the readers' knowledge, weapons and ammunition are NEVER stored together. Any army officer would know how the army and police would respond after a substantial amount of arms and ammunition were stolen - roadblocks, deployment of special branch personnel, cordon and search, food and water denial operations and commando raids.

Only and insane army officer will resort to this kind of crime. Even if the does, he would conduct thorough planning and  'appreciation' - a military terminology which means 'a logical sequence of thought deriving to the solution of a problem'. Mahathir announced that these people are terrorists, hell bent in overthrowing the represent government by forcing him and his cabinet to resign so that they can form an Islamic government. How pathetic!. Come on Mahathir, you have to be more convincing than that if you want to hoodwink the public. Any army officer serving or retired, would know that a very detailed and deliberate tactical plan would have to be worked out in order to overthrow the Malaysian government by armed insurrection. Knowing the entire organization of the armed forces and police with their weaponry, armaments, battleships and aircraft, how can a small deviationist group even harbour the dream of taking over the government after stealing arms and ammunition, not even enough to equip an infantry company?

NOTE : an infantry company is a sub-unit of an infantry battalion, comprising about 130  men commanded by a major. Has Mahathir gone senile in making such an absurd assessment?

The political assessment is very simple. During the Sanggang and Telok Kemang by-election, there was very encouraging support for Barisan Alternatif by non-malay voters and postal votes of armed forces and police. BN had to spend millions of ringgit to win by devious means - enough for Mahathir and BN leaders to press the panic button. For fear of increasing support for BA by non-malays, something 'spectacular' had to be created to scare non-malays and the best way was to show the dangers of 'deviationist terrorism in the form of Muslim religious extremists who bear absolute hatred for non-muslims.' At the same time, the army is being punished and embarrassed for showing disloyalty due to postal votes in favour of BA. The two boards of inquiry set by the Defence Ministry would be a total waste of time, money and effort. The armed forces has been in existence for more than 60 years. They have served the nation so well and there is nothing wrong with the security system. There are many other problem areas relating to morale in the armed forces that need to be seriously addressed. UMNO culture has crept into the armed forces whose leaders have turned into Mahathir's puppets. They allow themselves to be bullied by their political masters who do not possess even an ounce of leadership talent - a sad state of affairs indeed! Where is the military pride and moral courage?

Kapt. Jamaludin Darus is NOT a criminal -  just a minor pawn in a chess game. He and the members of the
so-called 'Al-Ma'unah' group were ordered to act out this drama from the beginning. That should explain why
documents were easily found in vehicles, conveniently parked in a row with genuine number plates for all to see and their hideout at Bukit Jenalik easily detected just after the heist. The mass surrender in batches took place quite easily - totally uncharacteristic of 'terrorists' as termed by Mahathir. To make it look realistic, lives had to be sacrificed. Unfortunately, their families would never believe that they were sacrificial lambs. Conscience, sins and akhirat (the world hereafter) doesn't even come across their minds. All part of UMNO's dirty game.

UMNO has a silat-based organisation called PAKEDA, formed in Kedah. This group is similar to that of chinese secret society triads or the Mafia. The patron of this body is none other than Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Their role is very simple - any dirty job from sabotage to murder, as long as 'the powers that be' achieve their goals. This is the kind of culture that Mahathir has initiated and instilled in UMNO - his kingdom and business empire which is overloaded with rubbish. They 'borrowed' the registered name of Al-Ma'unah, dressed PAKEDA personnel in military fatigues and turbans, take pictures of them training on a beach and in buildings,
produce them on the internet and show them on TV at every opportunity in an attempt to convince the rakyat
- a dismal failure! 

Again, Mahathir has underestimated the BA - a strong coalition made up of intelligent, level headed and dedicated leaders. We can only pray to Allah the All Mighty that Mahathir will learn to accept the fact that a very large number of Malaysians know what he is all about- nothing more than an extremely despicable and unwanted element. What he does or say now will only backfire on him. Since his time is running out, Pak Lah is already showing signs of becoming his clone - interesting to see whether he has got what it takes

Violence has never been and will never be subscribed or condoned by PAS.

In conclusion, this so called 'Al-Ma'unah' is very likely to be UMNO's PAKEDA, carrying out a specially
planned clandestine operation which has failed to fool the Malaysian public in general.

Mahathir will NEVER stop scheming until Allah the All Mighty punishes him and we pray it will come soon.
INSYA'ALLAH!

-MAJOR  X-