Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen 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 soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt 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."
Christian Aid Worker Kidnapped and Held Captive as a Spy in Iraq
Friday, May 06, 2022
Iraq
Robert Spencer : A terrifying ordeal ensued of being held at gunpoint, blindfolded,
and interrogated in order to discover his nonexistent spying activity,
with a small group of other Christians with whom he had been traveling.
Now, in Kidnapped in Iraq: A Christian Humanitarian Tells His Story,
he tells the whole story of how he was taken captive and survived by
the power of his Christian faith, as he and his fellow prisoners ātried
to schedule our lives around regular prayer and a common meal, trying to
live as willing monks rather than coerced prisoners.ā
This was no easy task. Their captors assured them that they didnāt
belong to ISIS, but as Shiāite jihadis, they were hardly less brutal and
inhumane, initially keeping their captives in a filthy, freezing room
where they slept on the floor and had a choice to shiver in the cold or
cover themselves with blankets so filthy that their stench made the
captives nauseated. Even worse than the appalling conditions was the
psychological torture: at one point during their captivity they were
told, āAs for your families, you can forget about them. Youāve had a
whole lifetime to enjoy them, but all of thatās over now. You wonāt be
seeing them again. Your lives will end here.As it turned out, they didnāt. Goodarzy and his fellow captives were eventually freed. And not only does Kidnapped in Iraq tell
a story that is more thrilling and skillfully plotted than the best of
adventure films, but Goodarzy adds a great deal of helpful background
about the history and culture of the Middle East, with a perspective
that differs sharply from the establishment mediaās cursory,
oversimplified, and narrative-driven coverage.
At one point he even meets Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who was
an unexpected source for a wise insight into why it would be a global
tragedy if the embattled Christians of the Middle East were driven
altogether out of their ancient homelands. āChristians,ā al-Assad told
Goodarzy, āensure peace and understanding among people. They contribute
to unity and peace. It is when the Christians are compromised that we
have more and worse civil war; without their vanguard in Syria, the
Muslims would take us back to the dark ages of the seventh century.ā
