Link graphic for a KJB version Bible Verse that will be automatically updated when we update it from time to time
">


Articles, Opinions & Views: Barricades

Photobucket
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
 
Fighting Seventh
The Fighting Rangers
On War, Politics
and Burning Issues
Profile
Miscellaneous

American Thinker
American
Newspapers Online

Arab News
Asia News
Asia Times
Assyrian News
BBC News
Breitbart News
British and
International
Newspapers Online

CAMERA
CBS News
City Journal
CNN
Christian Solidarity
International

Daily Caller
Daily Mail
DAP Malaysia
Dawn
Drudge Report
Dutch News
Faith Freedom
Ali Sina

Foreign Affairs
Forward
Fox News
Google News
Guardian
Haaretz
Harakah Daily
English

Herald Malaysia
Hurriyet Turkey
History of Jihad
Independent
Indian Newspapers
Online

Inspire Magazine
IPOH Echo
International
Herald Tribune

Jerusalem Newswire
Jihad Watch
Local-
French News
In English)

London Times
Malaysiakini

Malaysian Insider
Malaysia
Centre for Policy
Initiatives

Free Malaysia Today
Malaysia Chronicle
Malaysia
-Sarawak Report

MEMRI TV
Middle East
Forum

Mission Network
News

MSNBC News
National Review
NEWSMAX
New York Post
New York Times
Nut Graph
Opinion Journal
Right Wing News
Spiegel
Star Online
Straits Times
Sun Malaysia
Sydney
Morning Herald

Telegraph
The Malay Mail
The Rebel Media
The Sun (UK)
Time
Times of India
Town Hall
US News
World Report

USA Today
VBS TV
Washington Post
Washington Times
World Net Daily
World
Watch Monitor

Yahoo News
Ynet News



No Atheists
In A Foxhole

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."

Proud To Have
Served With Warriors

Glorious
Malaysian Food
Foreign Bloggers
&
Other Stuff
Gaming

Major D Swami
WITH Lt Col Ivan Lee
Click Here

Lt Col Ivan Lee
you want him with
you in a firefight!!!!

Dying Warrior
xxxxxx
Condors-Infantry
Fighting Vehicles
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Camp
Bujang Senang
Click Here
xxxxxxxx
The A Team
Click Here
xxxxxxxx
Major General
Toh Choon Siang
Click here
Lieutenant General
Stephen Mundaw
Click Here
With His
Dying Breath
Killed in Battle
In Death
Last Thoughts
Before Battle
Whilst There Is
Life, There Is Fight

Not Done In Yet!!

Iban Trackers
XXXXXXXX
Facts On RoP
Hutang Negara
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Barricades
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Continued from Highway Robbery... After the shooting up and spoiling the Somali Bandits ambush, we continued on our way.They must be one heck of a disappointed Somali Bandits, they might have been thinking, like it it was as easy as taking sweets from kids, as in the case of the Italians and the Bangladeshis. The rest of the soldiers and Othman were not fully in the picture as to what exactly happened. Never mind tonight, if and when we reached Baidoa, the story will be told over beers, lots of beers. The map on the right is the map of the 'Horn of Africa' otherwise known as Somalia. Click on the pic to enlarge it. The towns and regions are clearly shown. The routes shown are the routes taken during the World Food Program run. The starting and the ending of each run begins in Mogadishu.

We continued on our journey, sometimes we came across barriers. These barriers had concrete beams, drums and old tyres. The Militia never gives up in their attempt at collecting "taxes". For the ordinary Somali it was very expensive when travelling, hey you can say the same thing when you travel on our highways, we have tolls, in place of Militias. Eventually we arrived at a place called Bur Hakaba, there is a hill in this place of rock.There are caves in this rock, it is a rock where people stay. At the foothill of this humongous rock there are scattered villages. One of the Somali trucks makes a dash for one of the villages, there are quite a number of hard standing tracks. I give orders to stop the convoy and order the rest of the Condors to surround the village to which the Somali truck has moved to. The truck must belong to someone from the village.The below image shows the town of Bur Hakaba. It's surrounded by villages, this is the rear of that rock.

It's really getting on everyones nerves. This was stupid, to try and hijack or rather running off with a truck full of grain. We have done long distance training back in Malaysia, with rest stops and all. This really took the cake. Tempers were frayed, everyone was in no mood for this kind of a crap. Othman ordered one Condor to pursue and recover the vehicle. The Condor took off, if all the Condors were ordered into the village, I am sure we would have run over some of the villagers and killed them, the mood we were in. A cooler head prevailed, Othman's.

The Condor charged in between thatched huts with mud walls and caught up with the truck. The turret swivelled with the guns bearing on the driver in the cabin of the truck. He pulled up. Even as he pulled up, around 30-40 villagers were running towards the truck. The quick thinking Section Commander Corporal Shukri and his section of men dismounted. He positioned his men well and blocked the crowd from the truck. He had his men fix bayonets. The crowd was getting bigger. This was not good. The Condor seeing the new threat, swivelled it's turret toward the crowd. The Section Commander approached the driver and gestured to him, to drive back and rejoin the convoy. I was watching this scene through my binoculars. I could see that Corporal Shukri was barely suppressing his rage and anger.

Thankfully the driver obeyed. A bloodbath was averted, in reference to the crowd of villagers., not for the driver. The convoy continued it's journey out of Bur Hakaba, when the convoy reached some distance away from Bur Hakaba, a Condor stopped the errant driver. One of the soldier's pulled the driver down by the collar of the shirt, once on the ground, he was given a flurry of kicks and a final kick to his face. The driver got up with a bit of blood on his face. The soldier pulled out his bayonet and placed it on the driver's throat. Another soldier sort of prevented him from doing it. Play acting ? I don't know. This was done in full view of all the Somali drivers and their truck attendants. For emphasis a bit of a struggle took place between the two soldiers. One was trying to slit the Somali's throat, the other stopping him. We could actually have nominated them for the Oscars. The kicks and the blood were real though.

We continued on our journey. I was getting tired sitting in the turret the day was getting late. 230 kilometers, might as well be 2,300 kilometers. The going was too slow. The heat getting to you. We continued moving at a very slow pace with me leading. I did not want to do the herding, I allowed Othman to do that as I was getting a bit sick of all the breakdowns, which were still
happening. The delays and the negotiations for the spare parts amongst the Somali drivers were taking a toll on the soldiers.

"Shoot the bastard" (Tembak anak haram itu) were frequently heard over the radio, which I always replied with, no one is going to shoot anyone without my orders. With a threat that I will personally rip off their balls ! That stopped it. It could not be totally stopped. They were not going to do it, just venting their frustrations.

Pic on the left- A Somali "Tax" collection point.

We continued our journey, as I was leading I continued scanning the forward route with my binoculars. I saw in front of me a Somali "tax" collection point. These points are blocked by placing rocks, concrete, angle iron and concertina wires. Always covered by a group with weapons at a distance under cover with good arcs of fire. The guys closest are with light weapons or sometimes unarmed, who actually do the collecting. I approached them cautiously, they did not make a move to remove the barriers placed on the road for us to continue our journey. They gestured that they wanted a truck of grain that was under my care. They must have been crazy, thinking that I would hand a truck to them that easily. I whipped out my pistol and fired a few rounds at one of the guys who looked like a leader, deliberately missing him.

Another Condor trained it's guns on a group of the militia who were covering the "tax" collectors. They backed off and started removing the crude barrier. That was a relief, no one had to die. We stared those militia down as we passed them with all our guns trained on them. Near the barriers was a village as in most cases. The "tax" collectors feel that they have the right to collect "taxes" as we were passing near their village.Their villages are of thatched huts with mud walls.

Pic on the right shows a typical Somali Village

After clearing off the village, when we were into a good two hours, I come upon another "tax" collection point. I ask myself, will these never end ? I call Othman and tell him that I was going to dismount alone and ask them to remove the barriers this time without shooting at them. I give strict instructions that no one else was to dismount. That I and I alone would negotiate and clear the barriers. I instructed Lance Corporal Shamsuddin to take my place in the turret. I also told him that if anyone fired upon me, I was going to let loose the M79, which fires a 40mm high explosive grenade. After which I will throw myself on the ground and hope for the best. He was to, at that moment open up with all the fire power he had and decimate anyone still standing. This same instruction I gave to Othman.

Before I opened the door of the Condor, I cocked my pistol, my M4A1, put in a round of the 40mm into the M79, checked the M73 grenades, put another bandolier of 40mm rounds around my neck, checked my 4 magazines on my chest, the two more magazines on my thighs and my machette. Tightened the velcro straps holding the 7.62 Nato defeating ceramic plates. Oh yes, I put on my Ranger beret with hackle and all, not the kevlar helmet. I was in other words "armed to the teeth". I was a virtual walking weapons system. I opened the hatch, one of the guys quickly shut it and locked it.

I looked in front of me, there were about 15 Somalis, with weapons. I had my M79 in my right hand and my M4A1 in my left hand. There were another 20 odd Somalis further back, high probabaility of them being armed too. I walked towards the barrier. Something caught my ears. A sound of people moving behind me. Shit and double shit ! The Somalis were moving behind me to capture me alive to be used as a hostage for bargaining purposes. I would never live it down, being captured, I pivoted, ready to fire. No ! There were no Somalis but a whole section of my soldiers paper potting in the the fire and manoeuvre formation, heavily armed.

I was angry that my orders were deliberately disobeyed, I shouted at them :

"Hey you cunts, who asked you to dismount ?",(Dey pundeh, siapa suruh kau orang turun ?).

The answer I received from the youngest soldier in the platoon was : "Hey, sir, you don't want to die alone, do you ?" (Tak akan tuan mahu mati seorang ?)

I have done many things. I was from the rank and file. I have been promoted so many times. Did I have satisfaction ? That day was a day of awakening for me. I felt goose bumps forming on my neck, in reaction to the answer given by a very young soldier. I knew then and there that my soldiers accepted me as their leader and willing to do anything for me. Even die for me ! I knew from then on, that my soldiers and I could take on anything. Many an officer would give his all to experience a moment like that. I was elated. I approached the Somalis while a whole section of men were on the ground to support me, with other covering me from the Condors. All my boys meaning business. I walked up to the Somalis, pointed at their guns with my M79 and told them to lower their weapons. Which they did. Next I kicked over a few of the barriers, there was alot of talking amongst them, soon the Somalis joined me at my location clearing the barriers. I was on top of the world.

Soon the barriers were cleared, my soldiers mounted up into their vehicles, the convoy continued on it's journey to Baidoa. The Somali Militia waved us off very respectfully. Somalis respect a show of force, if you can be taken out, they would not hesitate to do so. They saw that we were a determined lot and we meant business. They backed off. So much the better for them. I knew with the soldiers I had, I would feel sorry for the Somalis.

Continued ....Reaching Baidoa.

posted by Major D Swami (Retired) @ 7:38 PM  
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home
 
ARCHIVES


Previous Post
Indian Soldiers
World War 1
Links To Rangers
Military Related Links


End of a Saracen
East Malaysian
Warriors
Blow Pipe
xxxx
xxxx
Lieutenant Colonel
Zulkapli Abdul Rahman
Click Here
Lieutenant Colonel
Harbhajan Singh
Click Here
Heads from the Land
of the Head Hunters
Heads
20 Harrowing Images
Vietnam War

Creme De La Creme-Click here

Killing Time
Before Deployment

Lt Col Idris Hassan
Royal Malay
Regiment
Click Here

Also Known as
General Half Track

Warriors
Dayak Warrior
Iban Tracker with
British Soldier

Showing the
British Trooper
what a jackfruit is!!

Iban Tracker

A British Trooper training
an Iban Tracker

Iban Tracker

Tracker explaining
to the British Soldier who
knows little about tracking

Iban Tracker
Explaining to the
British Trooper the meaning
of the marks on the leaf

Iban Tracker
Aussie admiring
Tracker's Tattoos

Lest We Forget Major Sabdin Ghani
Click Here
Captain Mohana Chandran
al Velayuthan (200402) SP
Ranger Bajau
ak Ladi PGB
Cpl Osman PGB

Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
Photobucket
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Advertistment
XXXXXXXX
Powered by

Free Blogger Templates

BLOGGER

google.com, pub-8423681730090065, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 <bgsound src=""> google.com, pub-8423681730090065, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0