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."
Najib and 1MDB: Know the past to understand the present By R Nadeswaran
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Malaysiakini : After reading and digesting excerpts, the reader will have a clearer
view of the events and the issues which will enable them to separate the
wheat from the chaff.
In July, 2018, Malaysiakini
reported the following in an exclusive interview: āFormer premier Najib
Abdul Razak continues to insist that the US$681 million (commonly
referred to as RM2.6 billion) in his bank accounts prior to the 2013
general election was a donation from a member of the Saudi royal family.
āThis
is despite the US Department of Justice, in its civil forfeiture suits,
and his critics alleging that the colossal sum was siphoned from 1MDB.
āNoting
that US$620 million of the US$681 million was returned to the ādonorā
in the same year, Najib said the donation came about following his
meeting with the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud.
āThe genesis was when I met with King Abdullah. I asked him to
support the (Malaysian) government because I thought their government
has a record of supporting governments which are somewhat friendly with
them.ā
Former premier Najib Abdul Razak
Two
months later, on July 20, Najib posted on Facebook several documents
which he claimed would clear his name amid allegations against him.
He
posted a copy of a letter that purportedly came from Prince Saud
Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia on his Facebook account, along with
several messages between banks.
Other documents posted were four
Swift messages, each detailing transactions to Najibās AmPrivate Banking
account in 2011, totalling almost US$100 million.
Two of the
documents named āPrince Faisal bin Turkey Bandar Alsaudā as the remitter
of the funds, totalling US$20 million. These transactions were made on
Feb 23, 2011, and June 10, 2011, for US$10 million each.
Malaysiakini
reported: āNajib said the late Saudi King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud
had provided him and Malaysia with various assistance, including
financial donations, but had asked for the matter to be kept under
wraps.
āSince I am no longer prime minister and King Abdullah is
dead, I feel it is fitting that I reveal the following documents to
clear my name of various accusations and slander.
āI, with my
lawyers, have taken some time to get these documents from banks, but we
have succeeded in getting most of them. The documents are for
contributions in 2011 only. The authorities and banks have the same
documents,ā he wrote.
āPakatan Harapan tells the people that I
took āRM2.6 billionā, but they never tell that the money was also
returned by me to the same source. That is not fair.
āDoes it
smack of somebody who was trying to cheat or steal? If the intention was
to steal, why would I use a local bank account in my own name?
āI
used the money for the election (GE13) and after the election, the
(balance) money was returned. As far as I was concerned, that was the
responsible thing to do,ā he added.
But the letter was similar in style and wording to the letter revealed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 2016, but the ABC letter was dated Nov 1, 2011, instead and pledged US$375 million.
Long
before that, on Jan 20, 2016, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was then deputy
prime minister, said he had met the wealthy Arab family who had donated
the US$700 million that was channelled into Najibās personal account.
He
was quoted as saying that the āking and princeā, whom he did not name,
had donated the money because of Malaysiaās commitment to fighting
terrorism and being a moderate Muslim country with a plural society.
The
family, he said, was impressed by how Malaysia, with its plural
society, still managed to remain moderate without side-lining any other
religions.
On Jan 26, 2016, CNBC reported: āSaudi
Arabiaās royal family gave Najib Razak a US$681 million, Malaysiaās
attorney general has revealed, ending months of speculation about the
source of the huge personal donation.ā
It said: āAttorney-General
Mohamed Apandi Ali told an unscheduled press conference that he was
satisfied that the funds in Najibās account were ānot a form of graft or
briberyā and that āno criminal offenceā had been committed in relation
to the funds, according to Reuters reports.ā
āThere was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib, that is between him and the Saudi family,ā Reuters quoted the attorney general as saying.
Readers may recall, the MACC sent a team to seek confirmation of the donation.
Testifying
in Najibās SRC trial on Feb 27, 2020, MACC investigating officer Mohd
Nasharudin Amir confirmed the authenticity of four letters linked to an
alleged donation that the Saudi Arabia royals had given Najib.
The officer also testified that the admission did not come from the Saudi royal but his legal representative.
Nasharuddin
testified that the MACC had, on Nov 29, 2015, gone to record a
statement from Prince Saud Abdul Aziz Malik Abdul Aziz al-Saud at the
palace of the then Saudi ruler King Abdullah in Riyadh.
But
instead of meeting the prince, a legal representative whose name was
Abdullah Al Koman had shown up on the princeās behalf. Nasharuddin also
testified that Al Koman had signed the statement that he had given the
MACC on behalf of the prince.
The issues and quotations were
retrieved from the public domain and have never been embellished. Why
such a delve into the past, you may ask.
The answer is simple. The
public has a right to know what has been said and done in the past so
that they are informed of the events leading to the current state of
affairs. Nothing more, nothing less.
