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."
The Battle of Yarmuk: ISIS’s Blueprint for Terror by Raymond Ibrahim
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Given that “to see Christendom fall” was Omar’s “delight”
Raymond Ibrahim : Today in history, on August 20, 636, one of the most consequential
battles between Islam and the West took place, that of Yarmuk. Not only
did it decide whether the Arabian creed thrives or dies; it became a
chief source of inspiration and instruction for jihadis throughout the
centuries, right down to the Islamic State.
And yet, very few in the West are even aware of
this encounter’s existence—much less how it motivates ISIS. As such, and in what follows, a detailed
examination is offered. The story begins, perhaps unsurprisingly, with
the prophet of Islam. Four years before
the battle, in 632, Muhammad had died. During his lifetime, he had managed to
rally the Arabs under the banner of Islam.
On his death, some tribes that
sought to break away remained Muslim but refused to pay taxes, or zakat,
to the caliph, Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s successor. Branding them all apostates, the
caliph initiated the Ridda (“apostasy”) Wars, which saw tens of thousands of
Arabs beheaded, crucified, or burned alive.
In 633, these wars were over; in
634, so was the life of Abu Bakr. It would fall to the second caliph, Omar bin al-Khattab
(r. 634–44), to direct the full might of the once feuding Arabs — now one
tribe, one umma — against “the infidel.” Almost instantly, thousands of Arabs flooded
into Christian Syria, slaughtering and pillaging. According to Muslim
historians, this was done in the name of jihad — to spread Allah’s rule on
earth.
Emperor Heraclius, who had just experienced a decade of war against the
Persians, proceeded to muster his legions and direct them to Syria, to quash
these latest upstarts. Roman forces engaged the invaders in at least two
significant battles, Ajnadayn (in modern-day Israel, in 634) and Marj al-Saffar
(south of Damascus, 635). But “by Allah’s help,” writes Muslim chronicler
al-Baladhuri (d. 892), “the enemies of Allah were routed and shattered into
pieces, a great many being slaughtered.”
