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."
COMMENT | And now, a sequel to 'Billion Dollar Whale' - R Nadeswaran
Friday, August 12, 2022
Malaysiakini : Good men? Some of them received a small fortune while head honchos of listed companies set up a pancaragam (band) to compose and sing a song of praises for their benevolent leader.
For
the 1MDB case, there were plenty of āChemical Alisā who made so many
ridiculous statements reflecting blind loyalty for the crumb offerings
which were dangled as a carrot.
(At the height of the US invasion
of Iraq, Ali Hassan al-Majid, the notorious āChemical Aliā, also known
as āComical Aliā, stood out with his infamous quotes after the US forces
had annihilated the Iraqi army. āThe American louts fled. God will
roast their stomachs in hell at the hands of Iraqisā, he infamously
said.)
So many lies were invented to defend the theft, including a
so-called Arab prince who could not remember making the donation
although fake letters from him were made public; investments in āunitsā;
classifying another PAC report as secret; ministers making ridiculous
and incomprehensible statements; and a grandstanding that āour money is
safe.ā
All that could not prevent the leader and the party from
being knocked off the pinnacle after waves of unhappiness and dissent
emerged. The rest, as they say, is history. The man involved potentially
faces a long spell in the slammer and there are other criminal charges
pending in the courts.
But
the LCS issue will have its usual drama. At this stage, there have been
no signs of Hollywood starlets, pink diamonds, glass pianos or visits
to the casino or purchases of art and real estate. Maybe more will be
forthcoming when a full-blown inquiry is conducted or when the
wrongdoers are produced in court.
Will the authorities step up?
In
the meantime, we Malaysians have to sit back and watch the āmovieā and
be content with reading or listening to the many systems that had gone
wrong.
The procurement system will be scrutinised; the key players will be
made to answer for their decisions, their actions and inaction; the
methodology in distributing and dispersing the loot; and the
consequences to Malaysiaās defence systems.
Once again, the details of transactions and the ingenious and inventive routes taken will be there for all to see.
The
prime minister made the best decision in his short tenure by announcing
that the report of a forensic audit on the governmentās procurement of
the LCS will be declassified.
In a statement, Prime Minister
Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government guarantees a transparent
investigation will be carried out.
Unlike one of his predecessors
who got his hands sullied by covering up wrongdoings in the 1MDB affair,
he stressed that those responsible for the LCS scandal will not be
spared.
He has ordered the MACC to expedite its investigation and
if there is evidence of wrongdoing, the attorney-general will be
required to drag all those responsible to court to face the music.
But
in the order is a caveat: Will the MACC act in the same urgent manner
expeditiously when it investigated unsubstantiated claims of bribery by
dubious parties against a judge?
Only time will tell, but the PMās
last words that āthe government will not protect those responsibleā
should be a signal that there should be no dilly-dallying on this issue.
It
can be said that PM read the āRiot Actā and the MACC has found itself
being ordered to buck up. For the record, it took a good five years
before someone was charged for yet another scandal ā the purchase of
student accommodation by Mara Holdings.
A
brave and commendable commitment, but will we see yet another senior
judicial officer waving a piece of paper and declaring everything is
hunky dory?
Not likely. With the hustings around the corner, there
is much more at stake. This time around, only the truth will be
acceptable. No frantic calls for letters, no fake sheikhs, no fake
letters, and no fake accounts.
