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."
By Mike Frialde(The Philippine Star) | Updated February 23, 2013 - 1:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - The Sultanate of Sulu wants Malaysia to return Sabah to
the control of the Philippines, the spokesman for Sultan of Sulu Jamalul
Kiram III said yesterday. Abraham Idjirani issued the statement as he stressed that the almost
200 members of the Royal Army loyal to Kiram III will remain holed up in
Lahad Datu in Sabah “for as long as it would take” to resolve a
standoff that has lasted for almost a week now. Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, the Sultan’s brother, along with his
followers went to Sabah under the orders of the Sultanate of Sulu last
week to press their bid to reclaim their ancestral land. Idjirani said the members of the army will not leave Sabah until the issue on control of the area is resolved. Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo prior to the formation of the
Malaysian Federation in 1963, has long been claimed both by the
Philippines and Malaysia. The Philippines is claiming it by way of the heritage of the
Sultanate of Sulu, which says that Sabah was only leased to the British
North Borneo Co. with Sulu’s sovereignty never relinquished. This dispute stems from the difference in the interpretation used on
an agreement signed between the Sultanate of Sulu and a British
commercial syndicate in 1878, which stipulated that North Borneo was
either ceded or leased (depending on the translation used) to the
British syndicate in return for the payment of 5,000 Malayan dollars per
year. Idjirani said Kiram and the members of his royal army are not making
moves to instigate a confrontation with the Malaysian forces surrounding
them.“Raja Muda and his men are just sitting. They remain on alert but there are no untoward incidents,” he said. Idjirani said some Filipinos living in Sabah have also joined the ranks of the prince’s men. Meanwhile, Idjirani pleaded to President Aquino to help resolve the issue peacefully.
He said the Sultanate of Sulu has sent a letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, informing him of their demand. “Being a Filipino citizen, he (President Aquino) should help us,” he said. Idjirani also called on all Filipinos, both Muslims and Christians,
to support the Sultanate of Sulu in its bid to reclaim control of Sabah
for the Philippines. Meanwhile, the military has enforced a naval blockade in the Sulu Sea
to prevent undocumented Filipinos from entering Sabah amid the
continuing standoff between the followers of Kiram and Malaysian
security forces, the Department of National Defense (DND) said
yesterday. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that while the heirs of the
Sultanate of Sulu may have basis for reclaiming Sabah as their ancestral
land, the process they are pursuing right now is wrong. Earlier, the Philippine Navy announced that it has deployed six naval
gunboats in the country’s southern backdoor as tensions mounted in
Sabah, with the Malaysian authorities issuing an ultimatum to the group
of Raja Muda to leave Lahad Datu by yesterday. “We have put up a naval blockade in the area so that we could stop
our undocumented fellow Filipinos from leaving (for Sabah),” Gazmin
said.
Peaceful resolution
Malacañang, for its part, maintained yesterday the Philippines’ claim
over Sabah would “be dealt with at the proper time and under the
correct conditions” and that the priority was still the peaceful
resolution of the standoff in Lahad Datu town. “From the beginning of this incident the administration has been
working quietly with the Malaysian government and the Kiram family to
peacefully resolve this standoff,” deputy presidential spokesperson
Abigail Valte said. Valte said President Aquino had disclosed he formed a team to look at
the historical and legal context of the Sabah claim and that it would
be pursued “in a way that upholds the national interest and does not
jeopardize our relationship with our good neighbor.”
On Thursday, Aquino confirmed he had been talking to stakeholders in
the continued standoff in Sabah, including the family of Kiram III. “We have been dealing with this. We have been talking to parties
concerned, including the family of the sultan, to ensure a peaceful
resolution,” Aquino said.“Of course that doesn’t rest entirely in our hands. There has to be
cooperation among all entities to achieve, first, a resolution on the
current crisis, and later on probably a long term solution to this
dispute,” he said. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario also said that the
Philippines has requested Malaysia to extend the deadline for the
followers of the Kiram family to leave Lahad Datu. – With Jaime Laude, Aurea Calica, Pia Lee-Brago
