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."
How Islam Conquered 2/3s of the Christian World by Raymond Ibrahim
Wednesday, October 06, 2021
Hat tip Religion of Peace : Recently in history, on August 20, 636, the single most
consequential battle between Islam and the West took place—that of
Yarmuk.
Occurring just four years after Muslim prophet Muhammad had
died, not only did the military engagement 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 the Battle of Yarmuk’s existence—much less how it motivates contemporary Islamic terrorists.
The contestants were the Eastern Roman Empire, under Emperor
Heraclius, and the newly born Arabian caliphate, under the second
caliph, Omar. After a couple of years of Muslim depredations in then
Christian/Roman Syria, the two forces met along the Yarmuk River. The
pre-battle exchange between the two generals, the Roman-Armenian Vahan
and Khalid bin al-Walid—Islam’s much revered (and near cannibalistic) “Sword of Allah”—is instructive:
The Christian commander began by diplomatically blaming Arabia’s
harsh conditions and impoverished economy for giving the Arabs no choice
but to raid Roman lands. Accordingly, the empire was pleased to provide
them with food and coin on the condition that they return home. “It was
not hunger that brought us here,” Khalid responded coolly, “but we
Arabs are in the habit of drinking blood, and we are told the blood of
the Romans is the sweetest of its kind, so we came to shed your blood
and drink it.
Vahan’s diplomatic mask instantly dropped and he launched into a
tirade against the insolent Arab: “So, we thought you came seeking what
your brethren always sought” — plunder, extortion, or mercenary work.
“But, alas, we were wrong. You came killing men, enslaving women,
plundering wealth, destroying buildings, and seeking to drive us from
our own lands.” Better people had tried to do the same but always ended
up defeated, added Vahan in reference to the recent Persian Wars, before
continuing:
As for you, there is no lower and more despicable people — wretched,
impoverished Bedouins. . . . You commit injustices in your own nation
and now ours. . . . What havoc you have created! You ride horses not
your own and wear clothes not your own. You pleasure yourselves with the
young white girls of Rome and enslave them. You eat food not your own,
and fill your hands with gold, silver, and valuable goods [not your
own]. Now we find you with all our possessions and the plunder you took
from our coreligionists — and we leave it all to you, neither asking for
its return nor rebuking you. All we ask is that you leave our lands.
But if you refuse, we will annihilate you!
The Sword of Allah was not impressed. He began reciting the Koran
and talking about one Muhammad. Vahan listened in quiet exasperation.
Khalid proceeded to call on the Christian general to proclaim the shahada—that
“there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”—and thereby
embrace Islam, in exchange for peace, adding, “You must also pray, pay zakat, perform hajj
the sacred house [in Mecca], wage jihad against those who refuse Allah,
… and befriend those who befriend Allah and oppose those who oppose
Allah,” a reference to the divisive doctrine of al-wala’ wa al-bara’. “If you refuse, there can only be war between us. And you will face men who love death as you love life.”
“Do what you like,” responded Vahan. “We will never forsake our religion or pay you jizya.” Negotiations were over.
