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."
Insight: Egypt seen as graveyard of Islamist ambitions for power
Monday, August 19, 2013
BEIRUT (Reuters)
- As the army ruthlessly crushes the Muslim Brotherhood on the streets
of Cairo, having swept away its elected president, Egypt is being
painted as the graveyard of the Arab Spring and of Islamist hopes of
shaping the region's future. This week's bloody drama has sent shockwaves out of Egypt, the political
weathervane and cultural heart of the Arab world. The effect on the
region of the army's power grab will not be uniform, because while
countries such as Egypt are locked in a battle over identity, other
states, from Syria to Yemen, and Libya to Iraq, are in an existential
struggle for survival. The Egyptian chapter of the Arab awakening began with the uprising that
ended the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak and has moved on to the
spectacular implosion of the Brotherhood that replaced him. Having been
outlawed intermittently since their founding 80 years ago, the
organization won parliamentary and presidential elections, then
self-destructed in one year. Deposed President Mohamed Mursi alienated all but a hard-core
constituency by devoting his energy to seizing control of Egypt's
institutions rather than implementing policies to revive its paralyzed
economy and heal political divisions, analysts say. "I was surprised by the rapid fall of the Islamists," said Jamel
Arfaoui, an analyst on Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring
uprisings. "I was expecting that the Muslim Brotherhood would continue long in
power and benefit from the experience of the Islamists in Turkey," where
the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party has won three
straight elections. The Egyptian Brothers, or Al-Ikhwan, now have reason to fear they could
be back in the wilderness for decades after the army, with much
bloodshed, imposed a state of emergency last week. The last time
emergency rule was implemented - after the assassination of President
Anwar Sadat in 1981 - it remained in force for more than 30 years More...
