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 : “In conclusion, the arms of others either fall from your back, or they weigh you down, or they bind you fast.” – Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
COMMENT
| As someone who is a critic of Anwar Ibrahim but still could make the
argument that he deserves his chance at Putrajaya, I find all these
rumblings that he should step down rather puzzling.
The electoral
victories made by Pakatan Harapan in its various iterations were made
possible by Anwar, even though some (now) argue that he really didn’t
play a part in any of it.
Maybe hope
Breaking
BN’s two-thirds majority and winning states was something that was
unheard of. Now, this is not some sort of plea to emotion but rather a
reminder of what a potent opposition could do against an entrenched
regime.
These were victories, maybe not ones that handed Harapan
the keys to Putrajaya, but they made the opposition into a viable threat
and a possible alternative to BN.
Now of course no leader is
indispensable and the fact that younger Harapan political operatives are
not up to the task of assuming leadership says a lot about Harapan. The
fact that Azmin Ali managed to destabilise a government, says a lot
about Anwar’s leadership or lack thereof, but this did not happen in a
vacuum.
