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."
Hillary Clinton and the ghosts of Benghazi By Kathleen Parker,
Sunday, February 10, 2013
We may never know exactly what happened in Benghazi, Libya, the night Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed, but itās becoming increasingly clear that our response was short of optimal. Even today, there are far more questions than answers. Could
Stevens have been saved? Was Washington doing all in its drone-loving
power to intervene? And, finally, as now-retired Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton fired back to congressional questioners during her recent appearance on Capitol Hill: What difference does it make?
Those words, uttered impatiently with just a soupcon of anger, came
in response to Sen. Ron Johnsonās question about what the administration
knew and when. Specifically, Johnson (R-Wis.) asked why the
administration sent U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to appear on Sunday talk
shows with talking points that we now know were clearly incorrect.
Recall that Rice repeated the operative narrative
that the attacks in Benghazi were caused by a spontaneous protest gone
awry about an anti-Muhammad video. While there was such a protest at the
U.S. Embassy in Cairo, nothing of the sort happened in Benghazi. The
attacks ā two of them six hours apart ā were a premeditated assault, now
widely referred to as a āterrorist attack by an al-Qaeda affiliate,ā
which may or may not be confirmable. Isnāt every wannabe terrorist part
of an al-Qaeda affiliate these days?
To the point, was the White
Houseās response deliberately misleading? Or was Rice merely
regurgitating what she had been told, using the best available
information? Clintonās huffy response during testimony that was otherwise measured and cool was likely intended to put a lid on this can of worms: āWith
all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because
of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who
decided theyād they go kill some Americans? What difference, at this
point, does it make?ā Well, it all makes quite a bit of difference,
though inarguably less now than it might have just weeks before the
November election. Clintonās response was so loaded with explosive
potential, itās a mystery why no one on the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee attempted to provide an answer. Apparently, Johnson and his
Republican colleagues were so hornswoggled by Clintonās irritation that
no one wanted to volunteer.
Most important, obviously, is the
possibility that those four American lives might have been saved. More
prosaically, it is very possible that President Obamaās reelection might
not have been assured had possible incompetence at the highest levels
been highlighted sooner rather than .ā.ā. now.Americans got a clearer picture of what transpired last Sept. 11 during testimony Thursday by retiring Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
Appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Panetta said he
personally delivered the news to Obama that the consulate in Benghazi
was under attack during a 30-minute briefing that also included Gen.
Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The president said, āDo whatever you need to do to be able to protect our people there,ā and that was that. He and Panetta didnāt speak again that night ā and neither Dempsey nor Panetta spoke to Clinton at all. Under
questioning by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Panetta added that the
president didnāt ask about military options or deploying assets. āHe
just left that up to us,ā Panetta said.As chief executive, Obama
may have felt he delegated appropriately. Let the military handle it.
But he is also the commander in chief. When our ambassador is being
attacked, our country is being attacked. Should he have done more? Might
he have made a call to Stevens or someone else on the ground? Obama didnāt hesitate to call Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke
two days after she was attacked on-air by radio host Rush Limbaugh. As
Fluke reported, the president āwanted to make sure that I was okay.ā
Two
days after would have been too late for Stevens, of course, but one is a
real-war theater and the other is merely political. To each his own
arena. To Clintonās query ā conceding the unfair advantage of
Monday-morning quarterbacking ā it is just and necessary to fill in the
holes left gaping in Benghazi. Ultimately, the real truth may be, as one
current ambassador put it to me, āBad things happen in bad places.ā
Does
it make any difference how or why four Americans were murdered in
Libya? My guess is, Ambassador Stevens would say that it does. Washington Post
