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."
How The Guardian Reported on the ‘Desecration’ at Al-Aqsa By Hugh Fitzgerald
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Robert Spencer : According to The Guardian, the violence started when the
Israeli riot police “entered..the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.” There is no
mention of the hours of rioting before the police entered the mosque, in
which Arabs threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at Jewish worshippers
praying at the Western Wall far below, nor any mention of the same
objects being thrown at the police from inside the Al-Aqsa mosque
itself.
Now, here’s what really happened:
Around
4 AM on Friday morning, dozens of Palestinians began marching around
the Al-Aqsa Mosque (some carrying banners associated with Hamas), and
started breaking stones and then throwing them at police and Jewish
worshippers at the Western Wall below — while stockpiling more rocks at
the mosque to prepare for further attacks. Palestinians later barricaded
themselves inside the mosque and hurled stones and fireworks toward
officers.
The violence prevented large numbers of Muslim from worshiping at Al-Aqsa.
Israeli police moved in to quell the riot only after morning prayers were concluded.
Videos released by the Israeli police of the rioters includes footage
of Palestinians throwing rocks and fireworks from inside the mosque.
Did the Guardian reporters not see those videos?
The rioting followed a
call by Hamas for Muslims to escalate against Israel in Jerusalem.
Earlier in the month, the Palestinian Authority (PA) warned Muslims that
Israel was going to commit a massacre in Jerusalem in order to take
full control of Al-Aqsa — a variation of the “Al-Aqsa is in danger”
libel that has long incited Palestinian violence against Jews.
The Guardian never reported that the PA had in late March
spread the story that Israel was planning to commit a massacre in
Jerusalem that would provoke the Arabs to violence, which in turn would
provide the excuse for Israel to seize control of Al-Aqsa. Nor did the
paper report that before the riots on Temple Mount began on April 15,
Hamas had called the Arabs in Jerusalem to “escalate” their violence,
centered on the need to “protect” Al-Aqsa. Why did the newspaper’s
reporters fail to report on these examples of murderous incitement?
Israeli police detained
hundreds, and used non-lethal riot control methods to end the violence,
thus allowing the mosque to re-open, enabling more than 50,000 Muslim
worshippers to return to the mosque for Ramadan prayers. The
Palestinian Red Crescent said that 158 were injured — a majority of
which were reportedly due to tear gas inhalation. Three Israeli police
were injured by Palestinian rock throwing….
The violence began with the Palestinians. It was they who used
potentially lethal rocks and Molotov cocktails against Israeli
worshippers at the Western Wall and the police on Temple Mount, while
the police used only tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun guns to contain
the rioters.
The Guardian reporters misinformed their readers as to cause
and effect. The police did not enter the mosque first, causing
Palestinians to riot in response. The rioters had been throwing rocks
and Molotov cocktails for several hours, beginning shortly after 4 a.m.,
at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. The Israelis first asked the
Jordanians to quell the rioters, and only when Amman refused, did the
Israeli police on the Temple Mount intervene. When they entered the
Al-Aqsa mosque itself, it was only to grab rioters who were using the
mosque as a base from which to throw rocks and explosives, and to seize
the weapons that had been stockpiled inside the mosque. It was the
rioters who “desecrated” the mosque, and prevented peaceful Muslims from
worshipping. The Israeli police entered and exited as quickly as they
could and made it possible for Muslims to say their Ramadan prayers.
Fifty thousand did so, without incident, later in the same day. None of
that is mentioned by The Guardian’s reporters.
Despite articles such as this one by Adam Levick, The Guardian still
has not issued a correction to its reporting on the Temple Mount riots.
It ought to acknowledge that both the PA and Hamas had spread false
stories about non-existent Israeli plans to seize Al-Aqsa before the
riots; it ought to explain that the Israeli police entered Al-Aqsa
Mosque on April 15 only after hours of rioting by Arabs on the Temple
Mount; it ought to report that that rioting included throwing rocks and
explosives at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall far below; it ought
to tell readers what the rioters were doing inside the mosque, and what
they had stockpiled inside; it ought to have noted that the Israeli
police remained inside the mosque for a very short time; it ought….
But we know, don’t we, that The Guardian will do none of those things. Which is why we need Adam Levick, and many others, to keep writing about its wrongs.
