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."
Egypt's Coptic Christians call for general strike on September 11 to protest persecution
Monday, September 07, 2009
(AINA) -- In the last week of July a Coptic rights movement dubbed "Copts for Egypt," using the social network Facebook as platform, called upon all Copts in Egypt to stage a general strike on September 11, which coincides with the Coptic New Year. In its communiqué, which first appeared on the Facebook site, the group stated the action is meant to express the resentment of all Copts over the Egypt's position on the repeated attacks on the homes and property of Copts because some of them have been used for religious observance.
The group members, wanting to remain anonymous, describe themselves as "Egyptians, pained by the divisions among the Egyptian rows, and being the 'the voice of the voiceless" (the oppressed). Members of the group are Muslims and Christians."
The "Copts for Egypt" movement has asked Copts participating in the strike to stay at home all day on September 11, and if they leave their homes for any reason wear black.
The strike centers around the Copts' demands for the Egyptian government to ratify the unified law for building houses of worship, and to abolish the unofficial "reconciliation sessions," which takes place despite the presence of criminal suspicion, and to bring the perpetrators in sectarian strife to justice.
Many political analysts and human rights organizations argue that the tension between the Muslim and Coptic Egyptian communities is caused primarily by the issue of Christian places of worship.... In full from the Assyrian International News Agency
