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."
'Najib wrong, Umno more like Mandela's foe' by RK Anand
Sunday, December 08, 2013
From Malaysiakini : The world is mourning the demise of an iconic figure who had risked his
life and spent more than two decades in prison for struggling against a
racist regime.
In Malaysia, a grieving Umno president Najib Abdul
Razak has equated his party's struggle to the battle Mandela had fought
to end apartheid in South Africa.
Commenting
on this, a bewildered PKR vice-president N Surendran said it was
nothing short of "shameless" for the Umno president to make such a
comparison.
He pointed out that Najib has his facts mixed up
since Umno's struggle more accurately mirrors that of the white National
Party that had enforced racial segregation in South Africa.
"Where do I even begin?" asked Surendran, struggling to contain his laughter.
"I
am actually surprised that Najib made the comparison. It does not do
him or Umno any favours. On the contrary, it exposes the massive
weaknesses in Umno's position.
"We all know about Mandela's
struggles. In fact, Mandela himself said that his greatest work had been
the fight against racism," he told Malaysiakini yesterday. 'Najib's most ridiculous statement'
In contrast to that, Surendran (below, centre) said Umno, especially since the era of its former president Dr Mahathir Mohamad, "has been all about racism, pure and simple."
According
to the PKR leader, Umno practices a form of "calculated racism", which
is intended to be used as a front to enrich party leaders, their cronies
and selected businessmen.
"Comparing this to Mandela's struggle is the most ridiculous statement Najib has ever made.
"And
the mockery of it is you have delegate after delegate (at the Umno
assembly) talking about Malay supremacy... how does this accord with
what Mandela stood for?
"I would call this a complete insult and
desecration of Mandela's beliefs. This is not what Mandela risked his
life and liberty for," he said.
The
irony, Surendran said, is Najib has opened up a clear parallel between
Umno and the white supremacist National Party that governed during the
apartheid era.
"The crux of it is... Umno's struggle is the same
as the apartheid party... Najib got it upside down.. Umno is more like
the opponent of Mandela," he added.
Surendran also noted that the
last two general elections showed that Malaysians are no longer
interested in Umno and BN's racial struggle.
"They want a united Malaysia and that is why multiracial parties are so successful," he added. 'Anwar more like Mandela'
Responding
to a question, Surendran agreed that if a Mandela parallel is to be
drawn with Malaysian political figures, then the best candidate is
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"Anwar
was the first major political Malay leader who broke down the racial
barrier and created a political coming together of all races.
"For
the first time, in Anwar, we had a Malay politician of national
standing, who repeatedly said "do not look at the colour of people's
skins, but look at their needs".
"This has been the essence of Anwar's message over the years," he said.
Surendran
said this message has been successful on the political front, with
regard to breaking down the racial stranglehold of Umno and BN.
"In that context, Anwar's struggle parallels Nelson Mandela's (right) fight to end racial politics.
"Another
parallel is that Anwar has also repeatedly said there will be no
witch-hunt should Pakatan Rakyat form the federal government.
"There
will be a truth and reconciliation commission similar to South Africa.
This struggle is not about exacting revenge or vendettas, but to rescue
the nation," he said.
Like Mandela, Anwar too was incarcerated
for what the latter claimed were trumped up charges in a political
conspiracy to end his political career.
Commenting
on this, a bewildered PKR vice-president N Surendran said it was
nothing short of "shameless" for the Umno president to make such a
comparison.
According
to the PKR leader, Umno practices a form of "calculated racism", which
is intended to be used as a front to enrich party leaders, their cronies
and selected businessmen.
The
irony, Surendran said, is Najib has opened up a clear parallel between
Umno and the white supremacist National Party that governed during the
apartheid era.
"Anwar
was the first major political Malay leader who broke down the racial
barrier and created a political coming together of all races.
"In that context, Anwar's struggle parallels Nelson Mandela's (right) fight to end racial politics.
