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."
But is 'Islam' at war with us? By Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
By failing to recognize this justification and catalyst for the threat we face, Mr. Obama and his administration effectively foreclose the possibility of countering it effectively. Worse yet, in their understandable desire not to give gratuitous offense to Muslims, the U.S. government has repeatedly deferred to those who are most easily and most vocally offended.
Specifically, the latter -- notably, the putatively nonviolent, but virulently Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and its myriad front organizations -- have come to dictate what our officials can and cannot say about the danger posed not just by al Qaeda and its "violent extremist allies," but by all those who embrace the teachings, traditions, institutions and dictates of what authoritative Islam defines as "mainstream": Shariah.
This practice effectively disenfranchises American Muslims who reject this Shariah program -- precisely the sorts of people we should most want to empower. Last week, I discussed this problem on our talk radio program with someone who is trying to do something about it: Rep. Sue Myrick, North Carolina Republican.
As it happens, Ms. Myrick's district is not far from where Daniel Patrick Boyd and other purported "homegrown" jihadists were reportedly plotting attacks abroad, and possibly here. What is more, the financial sector so prominent in the Charlotte area she represents is also a prime target of one of the most insidious forms of what author Robert Spencer calls "stealth" jihad: Shariah-compliant finance.
Ms. Myrick, a co-founder of the House Anti-Terror Caucus, recently convened a meeting to afford "moderate" Muslims an opportunity to interact with representatives of various federal law enforcement and other agencies responsible for securing this country.
According to Ms. Myrick, some of the officials seemed to discover for the first time that there are practitioners of Islam who do not embrace the seditious tenets of Shariah -- and who were extremely concerned about the government's almost exclusive reliance on those who do.
Fortunately, decisions in federal court in recent weeks may produce some urgently needed policy course-corrections. Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff in the Eastern District of Michigan recently cleared the way for accelerated and wide-ranging discovery in connection with a suit brought by a Michigan Iraq war veteran, Kevin Murray, against the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Board.
Mr. Murray is challenging on constitutional separation of church-and-state grounds the practice of a U.S. government-owned company, the insurance conglomerate American International Group Inc., promoting Shariah-compliant products.
It seems likely that the depositions that will now be taken by Mr. Murray's legal team -- securities litigator and Shariah expert David Yerushalmi and attorneys at the Thomas More Law Center, led by its director Richard Thompson -- will shed important light on the federal government's understanding of authoritative Islam's seditious program. It may also reveal the extent to which U.S. officials have, with their failure to comprehend the true nature of the threat we face, acted, either wittingly or unwittingly, in ways that have enabled it to metastasize further.
Whether through the revelations of this lawsuit or through the work of influential legislators like Ms. Myrick, the time has come to recognize that even if we insist we are not at war with Islam, many of the authorities of Islam are at war with us. Only by so doing can we connect with and empower our natural allies in this war -- Muslims who want to enjoy liberty in a Shariah-free America. And only by so doing, do we have a chance of prevailing. Washington Times
Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy, a columnist for The Washington Times and the host of the nationally syndicated Secure Freedom Radio.
