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."
Saudi 'Sportswashing' Billions Can't Cleanse the Brutal Truth
Friday, March 21, 2025
GROTESQUE DISTRACTIONS: Bebe Rexha and David Guetta perform during the
Fifa Club World Cup 2023 final at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium
in Saudi Arabia, December 2023
Morning Star UK : From golf and football to Formula One, the kingdom uses unprecedented investments in global sport to divert attention from its persecution of journalists, dissidents and women, write BELLA KATZ and ROGER McKENZIE.
THE phrase a man walks into a consulate could be the beginning of some sort of distasteful joke. But this is no joke. Back in October 2018, Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi did in
fact walk into his country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey to obtain
documents he needed for his forthcoming marriage. He never walked out.
Instead, he was murdered on what a United States intelligence report
asserted was the direct order of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman. The Biden administration went so far as to say the crown prince
approved a plan to either “capture or kill” what for the Saudi regime
was more than a troublesome journalist.
The US was so vexed by the killing that they slapped sanctions on
dozens of Saudis but, bizarrely, since they said the killing was a
direct order, not on the crown prince himself. Of course, the Saudis reject the accusation that they had anything to do with the killing. It would of course be wrong to think that it is only a recent tactic
to divert attention from their appalling human rights record. Far from
it. This has been going on for years and started way before the killing
of Khashoggi.
The Saudi regime has a reputation for being brutal in cracking down on freedom of expression. Last year the Saudis convicted teacher Asaad al-Ghamdi for a number
of offences related to his peaceful expression of opinion online. He is the brother of Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a retired Saudi teacher, who
was sentenced to death in 2023 for some of his posts on social media
and YouTube.
