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."
Malaysiakini : “Our fight is a fundamental fight against both of the old corrupt
party machines, for both are under the dominion of the plunder league
of the professional politicians who are controlled and sustained by the
great beneficiaries of privilege and reaction.” – Theodore Roosevelt
COMMENT | I just do not get it.
There seem to be two narratives when it comes to this idea of a unity
government. The first is about how Pakatan Harapan de facto
leader Anwar Ibrahim and his coterie are working in a sub rosa fashion
with Umno to form a unity government, while the second is about how Umno
is going, hat in hand, to Malay power structures in Harapan to cease
being a “government in waiting.”
Both narratives are false because the reality is that a unity
government is already forming. What I don’t understand is why people
really think that the big bad wolf is still Umno, as if it will be the
catalyst that would down the Harapan regime. The existential threat to
Harapan is not Umno, but an ideology that paralyses any progressive
destiny of Malaysia.
Umno does not have to form a unity government with Harapan before the
next election – because by the next election, there will be no Umno. When the old maverick and now Harapan grand poohbah Dr Mahathir Mohamad claims that Umno is finished, it is not because the people voted Umno out. The party still has support of the majority of the Malay community.
War of attrition
What is going on now is a war of attrition within Malay power
structures, which means that Umno rats are abandoning ship and heading
to other ‘Malay’ lifeboats. Malay power structures in PKR and Bersatu have openly said they would
accept Umno into the fold.