COMMENT | Malaysia has taken the right and proper stance on the recent killings in Nice, France. The statement by Wisma Putra was well-crafted, advocating a stance that redeems Malaysia and consonant with global outrage.

The same can't be said of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's ill-conceived comments that have tarnished Malaysia's "moderate" image abroad. As usual, he claims his remarks were read out of context. It is always other people's fault.

It was the same old story in 1979 when he suggested a "shoot on sight" strategy to stop the Vietnamese boat people. Then, he claimed he meant "shoo", not "shoot".

That is classic Mahathir who can't avoid conflict, controversy, and confusion because he once claimed to be "the devil you know", and we know what the devil is like.

The Memali incident, codenamed "Operasi Hapus" on Nov 19, 1985, when 18 individuals, including a PAS leader, were killed, exposed the underbelly of Mahathir's politics of expediency and selective memory.

After Anwar Ibrahim was assaulted by the country's top cop (who was subsequently charged in court) Mahathir cynically suggested that Anwar had "hit himself". Talk about adding insult to injury and clinical heartlessness. He has not recanted his thoughtless and hurtful words.

His latest comments, tantamount to advocating an open season to...