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."
Muslim Coup in Central Africa Produces 210,000 Refugees
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
The New Age : Some 210,000 people have been uprooted from their homes by violence in
the Central African Republic capital in the past two weeks alone, the
United Nations said Tuesday.
"The situation is very serious and appears to be worsening," UN refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards told AFP. About 210,000 people fled their homes in Bangui after fresh fighting
broke out in the strife-torn country on December 5, he said. On Monday, UNHCR staff came across some 40,000 people who had fled from
December 5-6 and had been hiding in an area near Bangui that had been
out of reach of aid workers. Finding such large pockets of displaced people off the radar raises
concerns about how many people may have been forced from their homes
across the largely inaccessible country. "We have visibility on the situation in parts of Bangui and Bossangoa
(in the northwest) and some other areas, but there are large parts of
the country where systematic understanding of the situation is very,
very thin at the moment," Edwards said. "We are worried... It's very, very violent." The resource-rich but poverty-stricken majority Christian country has
descended into chaos and sectarian violence since a March coup by mainly
Muslim Seleka rebels. After a fresh wave of violence two weeks ago, French troops deployed in a
bid to stop communal strife that had sparked global alarm.
