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."
04/21/2022 Nigeria (International
Christian Concern) – The U.S. last week approved an arms sale worth
nearly $1 billion to Nigeria. The deal—which includes twelve AH-1Z
Attack Helicopters, thousands of guidance systems for precision
munitions, night vision equipment, and machine guns among other weapons
and tools—was halted last year by a bipartisan group of leaders on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee who were concerned about Nigeria’s
human rights record.
“This sale will be a major contribution to U.S. and Nigerian security goals,” the U.S. Department of State said in a notice to Congress about the sale. “This
proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national
security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a
strategic partner in Sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed sale will better
equip Nigeria to contribute to shared security objectives, promote
regional stability and build interoperability with the U.S. and other
Western partners.”
The deal with Nigeria would, according to
State Department, include the deployment of teams to Nigeria to train
local forces on legal issues, human rights concerns, and ways to
minimize civilian harm in air operations.
Human Rights Concerns
Secretary
of State Antony Blinken visited Nigeria in November and raised concerns
about the Nigerian government’s human rights record. During his visit,
he said that the U.S. was waiting for justice in the case of a 2020
incident in which the army shot at protestors before going ahead with
the proposed arms sale. It is not clear what, if any, justice was
administered before the deal was finalized last week.
In a report released last week, State Department highlighted “credible reports that members of the [Nigerian] security forces committed numerous abuses” last year. The report lists seventeen specific human rights abuses, including “unlawful
and arbitrary killings by both government and nonstate actors; forced
disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; [and]
torture.”
In addition to concerns about police brutality and
lack of accountability for its armed forces, Nigeria has also long been
criticized for its failure to provide security to vulnerable Christian
communities in the Middle Belt and northern regions of the country.
For
a variety of reasons, Nigeria was added to State Departments list of
Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) in 2020 for engaging in or
tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.
It was removed from
the list in 2021 around the time of Secretary Blinken’s visit in a move
that drew widespread criticism from human rights watchdogs around the
world….
