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."
Australia: After jihadi stabs bishop, Muslims demand removal of ‘religiously motivated terrorism’ classification
Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Robert Spencer : They claim that there exists “extensive scholarly work demonstrating
that terrorism is driven by political and ideological motives, not
religious faith.” This is a lie, and is contradicted by the stabbing of Mar Mari
Emmanuel. His attacker said: “Why is he swearing at my prophet? I
wouldn’t have come here if he didn’t bring my religion into this.” Mar
Mari Emmanuel had indeed criticized Islam. So his attacker clearly was
driven by religious faith, not political or ideological motives.
“Australian Islamic groups calls for revision of national terrorism laws, as sixth teenager charged,” by Jessica Kidd, ABC.net.au, April 25, 2024:
An alliance of peak Islamic groups has called for
Australia’s terrorism laws to be changed, to remove the concept of
“religiously motivated terrorism” from the legislation. It comes as a sixth teenager, aged 15, was charged after counterterrorism raids were carried out in Sydney on Wednesday.
Five teenagers, aged 14 to 17, were previously charged with several offences and are before the courts. In a statement, the Australian National Imams Council, the Alliance
of Australian Muslims and the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network said it
was necessary to “avoid simplistic attributions that target specific
communities”.
The group’s spokeswoman Ramia Abdo Sultan said terrorism was driven by political ideology and not religion. “The presumption that terrorism is inherently tied to religion is not
only inaccurate but harmful,” Ms Abdo Sultan told a press conference.
“This misconception persists despite extensive scholarly work
demonstrating that terrorism is driven by political and ideological
motives, not religious faith.” The alliance of Islamic groups did not take questions during the four
minute press conference, telling the assembled media that they could
submit questions by email.
Ms Abdo Sultan also singled out ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess
and said the use of racial and religious profiling and the failure of
law enforcement agencies to consult with the Muslim community further
undermined social cohesion.
“The use of charged language such as “religiously motivated Sunni
violent extremism” by the Director-General of ASIO Mike Burgess,
particularly during sensitive times … fuels Islamophobia and further
marginalises the Muslim community,” she said.“This approach undermines social cohesion and perpetuates the
stigmatisation of an entire religious group based on the actions of a
few.”
