Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen 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 soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt 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."
Arab Spring and the Israeli enemy by ABDULATEEF AL-MULHIM
Monday, November 26, 2012
Thirty-nine years ago, on Oct. 6, 1973, the third major war between the
Arabs and Israel broke out. The war lasted only 20 days. The two sides
were engaged in two other major wars, in 1948 and 1967. The 1967 War
lasted only six days. But, these three wars were not the only
Arab-Israel confrontations. From the period of 1948 and to this day many
confrontations have taken place. Some of them were small clashes and
many of them were full-scale battles, but there were no major wars apart
from the ones mentioned above. The Arab-Israeli conflict is the most
complicated conflict the world ever experienced. On the anniversary of
the 1973 War between the Arab and the Israelis, many people in the Arab
world are beginning to ask many questions about the past, present and
the future with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The questions
now are: What was the real cost of these wars to the Arab world and its
people. And the harder question that no Arab national wants to ask is:
What was the real cost for not recognizing Israel in 1948 and why didnāt
the Arab states spend their assets on education, health care and the
infrastructures instead of wars? But, the hardest question that no Arab
national wants to hear is whether Israel is the real enemy of the Arab
world and the Arab people. I decided to write this article after I
saw photos and reports about a starving child in Yemen, a burned ancient
Aleppo souk in Syria, the under developed Sinai in Egypt, car bombs in
Iraq and the destroyed buildings in Libya. The photos and the reports
were shown on the Al-Arabiya network, which is the most watched and
respected news outlet in the Middle East. The common thing among all
what I saw is that the destruction and the atrocities are not done by
an outside enemy. The starvation, the killings and the destruction in
these Arab countries are done by the same hands that are supposed to
protect and build the unity of these countries and safeguard the people
of these countries. So, the question now is that who is the real enemy
of the Arab world? The Arab world wasted hundreds of billions of
dollars and lost tens of thousands of innocent lives fighting Israel,
which they considered is their sworn enemy, an enemy whose existence
they never recognized. The Arab world has many enemies and Israel should
have been at the bottom of the list. The real enemies of the Arab world
are corruption, lack of good education, lack of good health care, lack
of freedom, lack of respect for the human lives and finally, the Arab
world had many dictators who used the Arab-Israeli conflict to suppress
their own people. These dictatorsā atrocities against their own people are far worse than all the full-scale Arab-Israeli wars. In
the past, we have talked about why some Israeli soldiers attack and
mistreat Palestinians. Also, we saw Israeli planes and tanks attack
various Arab countries. But, do these attacks match the current
atrocities being committed by some Arab states against their own people.
In Syria, the atrocities are beyond anybodyās imaginations? And,
isnāt the Iraqis are the ones who are destroying their own country?
Wasnāt it Tunisiaās dictator who was able to steal 13 billion dollars
from the poor Tunisians? And how can a child starve in Yemen if their
land is the most fertile land in the world? Why would Iraqi brains leave
Iraq in a country that makes 110 billion dollars from oil export? Why
do the Lebanese fail to govern one of the tiniest countries in the
world? And what made the Arab states start sinking into chaos? On May
14, 1948 the state of Israel was declared. And just one day after that,
on May 15, 1948 the Arabs declared war on Israel to get back Palestine.
The war ended on March 10, 1949. It lasted for nine months, three weeks
and two days. The Arabs lost the war and called this war Nakbah
(catastrophic war). The Arabs gained nothing and thousands of
Palestinians became refugees. And on 1967, the Arabs led by Egypt
under the rule of Gamal Abdul Nasser, went in war with Israel and lost
more Palestinian land and made more Palestinian refugees who are now on
the mercy of the countries that host them. The Arabs called this war
Naksah (upset). The Arabs never admitted defeat in both wars and the
Palestinian cause got more complicated. And now, with the never ending
Arab Spring, the Arab world has no time for the Palestinians refugees or
Palestinian cause, because many Arabs are refugees themselves and under
constant attacks from their own forces. Syrians are leaving their own
country, not because of the Israeli planes dropping bombs on them. It is
the Syrian Air Force which is dropping the bombs. And now, Iraqi Arab
Muslims, most intelligent brains, are leaving Iraq for the est. In
Yemen, the worldās saddest human tragedy play is being written by the
Yemenis. In Egypt, the people in Sinai are forgotten. Finally, if
many of the Arab states are in such disarray, then what happened to the
Arabsā sworn enemy (Israel)? Israel now has the most advanced research
facilities, top universities and advanced infrastructure. Many Arabs
donāt know that the life expectancy of the Palestinians living in Israel
is far longer than many Arab states and they enjoy far better political
and social freedom than many of their Arab brothers. Even the
Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip enjoy more political and social rights than some places in the
Arab World. Wasnāt one of the judges who sent a former Israeli president
to jail is an Israeli-Palestinian? The Arab Spring showed the world
that the Palestinians are happier and in better situation than their
Arab brothers who fought to liberate them from the Israelis. Now, it is
time to stop the hatred and wars and start to create better living
conditions for the future Arab generations. Arab News
This is a good article. I agree with almost all you said, but do you really think this is the whole story? I briefly take your attention to some but not all other factors as well. The Israelis have what you rightfully said built an strong infrastructure because most of them are from the European countries plus the US. This helped the Jewish people tremendously, and because they were scattered all over the world, they got help from almost all western counties, and let's face it they care about education and science. They gave the world scientists who have changed the science in a major way. They are also, like Moslems, very religious people and have not forgotten the past history of the Middle East, nor they have lack of knowledge to read our holy book and they are aware of what has been said about them in that book. But we, in the Middle East, in true sense have never had any culture to build new ideas upon it. We never knew, and still don't know what democracy, and freedom means. There are many things beside the sustainable help from the most powerful country that has helped them keep their people safe, and democracy grow. Btw, I can understand why you didn't mention your country when you were talking about dictatorship. Good article. Keep at it.
This is a good article. I agree with almost all you said, but do you really think this is the whole story? I briefly take your attention to some but not all other factors as well. The Israelis have what you rightfully said built an strong infrastructure because most of them are from the European countries plus the US. This helped the Jewish people tremendously, and because they were scattered all over the world, they got help from almost all western counties, and let's face it they care about education and science. They gave the world scientists who have changed the science in a major way. They are also, like Moslems, very religious people and have not forgotten the past history of the Middle East, nor they have lack of knowledge to read our holy book and they are aware of what has been said about them in that book. But we, in the Middle East, in true sense have never had any culture to build new ideas upon it. We never knew, and still don't know what democracy, and freedom means. There are many things beside the sustainable help from the most powerful country that has helped them keep their people safe, and democracy grow. Btw, I can understand why you didn't mention your country when you were talking about dictatorship. Good article. Keep at it.