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."
National Review : While we argued over Santa Clausās color (white, black, or multicolored?), China roved across the moon.
Iran sent a monkey into orbit and returned him safely to earth. America, we have a problem. To be sure, itās easy to look and laugh, āYouāre 50 years behind us.ā Easy,
but ill judged. Such a casual understanding neglects the defining truth
here. Ultimately, the Santaāspace dichotomy isnāt about technological
power, itās about national purpose.
We need to grasp that fact. Fast.Consider what these space missions actually mean for the Chinese and the Iranians.Itās tempting to look at space monkey āFargamā and see only ācuteness.ā
For Americans who see space exploration in the imagery of decades of
manned missions, Fargam doesnāt appear all that serious. But Fargam is
far more than a PR stuntmonkey. Heās a traveling messenger for the
Iranian revolution ā āthere are no limits to our aspiration.ā And in
this vein of āaspiration,ā Fargam carries a broader scientific purpose.
By riding a rocket-launched capsule into space and then achieving a
controlled reentry, Fargam has helped advance Iranās weaponized-missile
program. According
to the Defense Department, Iranian progress with two-stage missile
systems suggests that Iran may have the capability to attack the U.S.
mainland by 2015.
Alongside Iranian delaying tactics over the implementation of the Geneva āsix monthsā deal, Fargam suddenly seems a little less friendly. But still we laugh.
