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."
Iranian regime targets family of 'Angel of Freedom' Neda Agha Soltan
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The cruelty of the Mullahs in Iran knows no bounds. Iranian security officials have begun pulling down posters of Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman who has become the face of the country's pro-democracy uprising after her death in Tehran was captured on video. Relatives said images of Neda Agha Soltan, 27, who has been described as Iran's "Angel of Freedom" after she was apparently shot dead on Saturday, had been targeted by plain-clothed officials.
They had removed any material commemorating the 27-year-old student that had been erected near her home by sympathisers in the Iranian capital. Miss Agha Soltan was shot in the chest after she joined a protest near Azadi (Freedom) Square. Within hours an Iranian exile in Europe had posted pictures shot on mobile phones online and the scenes have been viewed by millions since. Relatives said the authorities had insisted Miss Agha Soltan was buried in a cemetery plot reserved for slain "rioters" and that attempts to hold memorial services had been banned. Hamid Panahi, her friend and music teacher, was with her when she died. He recounted hearing the crack of a bullet before she fell to the ground.
"We were stuck in traffic and we got out and stood to watch, and without her throwing a rock or anything they shot her," he said. "It was just one bullet." After she fell to the ground, the tourism student cried out in pain. "I'm burning, I'm burning!" Mr Panahi said as he recalled her final words. Friends who attended a wake at her parents middle-class home in Tehran said they had begged her not to go to the demonstrations, which came a day after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned he would not take responsibility for bloodshed on the streets.
"I told her, 'Neda, don't go'," said a woman called Golshad. "She said, 'Don't worry. It's just one bullet and it's over'." It was not the only occasion in which she alluded to the prospect of dying. Miss Agha Soltan's boyfriend, Caspian Makan, a 37-year-old photojournalist who met her abroad, spoke of his girlfriend's determination to protest in the name of "freedom" as he spoke of his grief. "Neda had said that even if she lost her life and got a bullet in her heart, she would carry on," said Mr Makan. "Unfortunately, that is how she died, a bullet hit her heart and her lung, and maybe 5 or 6 minutes later, she died."
He added: "She gave a big lesson to everyone even though she was very young. "She only ever said that she wanted one thing, she wanted democracy and freedom for the people of Iran," Mr Panahi said that the student, who had studied philosophy, music and tourism, was not political but sought an outcome to the election – which returned the incumbent president, Mahmoud Ahmadnejad, with a stunning 2:1 majority – that was demonstrably fair. Opposition candidates have objected to the result claiming the election was rigged. "She couldn't stand the injustice of it all," he said. "All she wanted was the proper vote of the people to be counted. She wanted to show with her presence that 'I'm here. I also voted. And my vote wasn't counted.' It was a very peaceful act of protest, without any violence."
Tehran's police chief, Azizollah Rajabzadeh, dismissed suggestions that official forces had opened fire on demonstrators with live rounds. While officials have imposed harsh restrictions on the woman's family, they were not asked – as other families of victims claimed – for the £1,800 "bullet price" to compensate the state for the cost of the security operation that cost their lives. Telegraph
