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."
On August 24, a report President Joe Biden ordered 90 days earlier
from the intelligence bureaucracy about the origin of COVID-19 will be
due. There is an odd lack of leaked information about where the report
stands now. Despite their supposedly secretive nature, these agencies
often seem to employ even more aggressive publicists than SEAL Team Six
and leak what passes for intelligence to force the hand of a president
they are supposed to serve.
When he ordered the review, Biden forecast
that the agencies might not agree on a source of COVID, or might issue a
posterior-covering report that stresses they present their conclusions
with “moderate” confidence—shorthand for “guessing.”
But what if they clearly report that COVID came from China’s Wuhan
Institute for Virology, or if most Americans arrive at that conclusion
regardless of what our feckless spies determine? The latter is already
occurring: a poll in July put showed those who suspected a lab leak
totaled 52 percent compared to 28 who thought it was natural.
What will the consequence be for China’s government? The cost
should be commensurate with the damage the Chinese have caused to the
world, which has been extremely severe. After all, COVID has apparently killed or contributed to the deaths of nearly
4.3 million people worldwide. America has the most deaths at 633,000,
followed by Brazil (563,000), India (428,000), and Mexico (244,000). And
the death and suffering have not stopped.
