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."
"An army is a miniature of the society which produces it."- CLR James (The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution). When the Navy gets sorted out, I seriously hope that the Chief of navy in his later years, gets to guard theentrance to the Naval Base, where everyone gets to spit on his face for his cowardlymoral courage. COMMENT
Many former and current serving armed forces personnel are bewildered
by Navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar's comments that former prime minister
Dr Mahathir Mohamad was addressing the crowd in the Lumut Naval Base
about "solidarity" and not "politics".
Why do our Armed Forces
need a lecture in solidarity? Whom do they have to come together
against? And the implication here, considering that Mahathir is the
Perkasa patron, is that solidarity means Malay/Muslim solidarity and
the question, then becomes, is this the kind of solidarity that a
supposedly multiracial 1Malaysia Armed Forces requires?
Furthermore, Abdul Aziz has the temerity to claim that the reason
why First Admiral (Rtd) Mohd Imran Abdul Hamid, who is a Pakatan Rakyat
candidate in the May 5 general election, was not allowed to enter the
base was because "he will talk on politics, interspersed with slander,
and will anger the personnel here... we don't want any agenda to be
brought in that will divide the people."
So not only has Abdul
Aziz made a judgment that borders on libel on a former admiral but he
continues to pander to the establishment in this country by furthering
their narrative that anybody not belonging to Umno (a political party)
or supportive of its agenda, is hostile to the very institutions that
are supposed to remain non-partisan.This
is not the first time Abdul Aziz has done this. He gained notoriety
among a certain non-partisan section of retired Armed Forces personnel
when he was one of the service chiefs lined up behind Armed Forces chief
General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin when helaunched an attackon
service personnel who complained about electoral malfeasances in the
military; one of whom, was a former Navy chief, the highly respected
Admiral Mohammad Shariff Ishak.
Right-thinking Malaysians may
recall that those men who brought up this matter, from an opposition
platform, were deemed "treacherous". This of course is one in a
long line of political agitations by serving armed forces officers, who
claim that they are apolitical but somehow always manage to further the
agenda of Umno.Let us not forget the former air force general,
who was still serving when he reminded service personnel to "not bite
the hand that feeds them". This is not the only time
Furthermore, right-thinking Malaysians should also be aware that this
is not the only time that politicians and their lobby groups have been
allowed to "campaign" in the Lumut naval base.Here is a list of
other such "political" activities that Abdul Aziz should find
uncomfortable, since he claims to be against such activities: April 18
Perkasa presentation on ‘Perpaduan Melayu' (Malay Unity)
Place: Dewan Sidek KD Pelandok Lumut
Present: Perkasa vice-president Abdul Rahman Abu Bakar, Vice-Admiral
(rtd) Mat Rabi Abu Samah, Zahid Mat Arif (grandson of former deputy
prime minister Ghafar Baba), Navy chief Abdul Aziz, his deputy, fleet
operational commander and senior officers.
(Readers may be
interested in the strange nexus of the military and political
establishments involving Ghafar Baba's family. While the grandson
attends pro-establishment meet-ups with the outsourced thugs of Umno -
Perkasa - Ghafar Baba's son and former Umno partisan Mohd Tamrin Abdul
Ghafar has thrown his lot in with the opposition, claiming
that a cabal within Umno that included Mahathir orchestrated May 13. It
does get a little stranger though; the daughter of the late Ghafar is
the wife of Navy chief Abdul Aziz and the subject of this piece.)
April 25
Religious address by Ustaz Kazim Elias (a strong BN supporter)
Place: Field with tent at Block A6 in Lumut Naval Base
Present: Navy chief Abdul Aziz and caretaker Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir April 29
Address by caretaker Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi
Place: Dewan Sidek KD Pelandok
Present: Navy chief Abdul Aziz and senior officers 24 April
Navy personnel were ordered to attend a political function held at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pasir Panjang
Presentations were given by caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Zambry
Minions of the state
Of course, one has to wonder about Abdul Aziz's definition "of not talking about politics" when the former prime minister warned those in attendance
"not to vote emotionally as having the wrong people rule the country
would result in a failed Islamic state." Is this not a political
sentiment?
Moreover, should it not be "another failed Islamic
state" since, the former PM has claimed that Malaysia is an Islamic
state? Okay, depending on your partisan bent or how much of kool aid you
have consumed, the "failed state" appeal to emotion is a powerful draw.However, it does not take a genius to figure out who these "wrong people" are, considering that former admiral Imran (right), who was denied entryinto
the base, is running on a PKR ticket. This is the problem here. Since
when did the military decide who are the "right" or "wrong" people to
run this country?
I have devoted a considerable amount of space
to what many others consider the lack of professionalism, and I should
say dereliction of duty, when it comes to maintaining the apolitical
nature of the armed forces. Not to mention - and I suppose I should be
careful lest I am sued by the Navy - for politicising the numerous
corruption scandals that have surfaced, like non-functioning submarines.
Depoliticisation of our military
I have always wondered why the armed forces never sued Perkasa chief
Ibrahim Ali when he boasted that if he had an army base in his Pasir Mas
constituency, he would surely win any election he stood in. Seeing
as how easily Perkasa and those supposed 1Malaysian politicians are
given access to our Armed Forces, there should be no doubt that our
Armed Forces has been compromised by the agendas of the current regime.
When a pro-establishment blogger is given access,
and then publishes his "exclusive" on his blog, to a submarine and
personnel it is merely evidence that there needs to be a scorched-earth
policy when it comes - if it ever comes to that - to reforming the Armed
Forces.Let
me be very clear. My issue is not that a PKR political candidate was
denied entry into a naval base - although I do consider barring a former
Navy admiral from a naval base the height of unprofessionalism and
discourtesy - but rather that the Armed Forces have become so
radicalised politically by Umno that minions of the state are allowed to
use them as tools to maintain hegemony.
I have no desire to see
either alliance "campaign" in military bases and I do not even desire
equal time for the opposition alliance in military bases, despite the
fact that BN campaigns there freely.
What I want as a Pakatan
partisan is the assurance by Pakatan that if it ever comes into power,
reforms would be carried out on the Armed Forces that would return the
security apparatuses of this country into apolitical organisations that
would not debase them by pandering to the dictates of their political
masters. S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.
Sir, Don't have to worry about this arsehole, he will be given S.N.R by sunset 5 May. (Just wonder, who his instructors were in US (Ulu Sembanwan)).