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."
I interviewed Elliott Abrams, an Egypt expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, about Al-Jazeera’s reports that the protesters greeted the military with celebrations, and that the military might in turn side against Mubarak. Here’s what he said:
The difference between military and the police, is that the police are constantly being used for 30 years now to suppress the people. It’s the police who are constantly in small confrontations with the citizens. When it comes to freedom of expression or freedom of assembly it’s the police. The army is very popular, a heroic institution that fought the Israelis, and the army led the revolution in ‘52 and ‘53, so the army has a very different relationship with the people than with the police force. It is not true that the army hated Mubarak; he was in the air force and has always had a close relationship with the leadership.
But what about the people who are privates and sergeants, etc.? That’s the real question. The regimes always take very good care of the generals. But normally the people at the bottom live in poverty, they don’t have officers’ clubs or any of that. So the question is, when the moment comes when either the crowd is going to overwhelm you, or you shoot — what are you going to do? It’s a question about the people on the bottom; will they actually shoot, will they follow the orders? And will the people at the top actually give the order? In Tunisia the answer was no. Well Mubarak is 82 — what kind of future are you going to have if the army shoots at people? I don’t think we know yet.
The question now hinges on the crowds and the degree of confrontation. In all of these regimes – there’s no precedent. It hasn’t happened in these countries. It is reasonable to think that either the soldiers themselves won’t do it, or the generals won’t give the orders. Source: National Review
