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."
Incoming U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss and Israel By Hugh Fitzgerald
Wednesday, September 07, 2022
Robert Spencer : Now that Truss has been elected by her fellow Conservatives to be
Prime Minister, other pieces on her pro-Israel views have just appeared,
including this one: āLiz Trussās world view and its implications for
UK-Israel relations,ā by Toby Greene, Fathom Journal, September 2022:
In Trussās mental map of the world, in which decent, honest,
sovereign free-trading nations are pitted against aggressive
authoritarians, Israel sits firmly in the former category. Israelās
inclusion in Trussās list of āfriends and alliesā in her October 2021
conference speech was not an isolated example, with Israel referred to
repeatedly as an example of a (non-EU) democratic partner that excels in
innovation.
Truss has proudly trumpeted her November 2021 bilateral
agreement with Yair Lapid to develop a UK-Israel Bilateral Roadmap. The
agreement envisages not only a āhigher ambition free trade agreementā
but enhanced cooperation in a host of fields including defence, cyber,
diplomacy, climate innovation and international development. The
agreement was celebrated with a Truss co-authored article with Lapid
published in The Telegraph, in which they declared: āIsrael and the UK
are the closest of friends, and today we become even closer. Together we ensure the future is defined by liberal democracies who believe in freedom and fairness.āā¦
Truss rhetorically extends the problem beyond Labour. She
drew fire from civil service unions for referring to āwoke civil service
culture that strays into antisemitism.ā.In an interview with the Jewish
Chronicle, and again in a speech to Conservative Friends of Israel
(CFI), Truss proudly described putting her foot down with Foreign Office
diplomats by insisting they stand up to an anti-Israel agenda in the UN
Human Rights Council. Truss even told CFI she would āreview a moveā of
the embassy to Jerusalem. This was hardly a commitment, nor will it be a
priority, but it appears to signal that you cannot be too pro-Israel in
todayās Conservative party. During the CFI hustings she felt no need to
even refer to the Palestinians.
Like much of Trussās politics, her philosemitism carries echoes of Thatcherā¦
Trussā election is very good news for Israel. Her philosemitism, her
palpable affection for the Jewish state, her admiration for Israelās
economic advances as the āStart-Up Nation,ā her eagerness to promote
U.K.-Israel ties on trade and security, her understanding that Israel is
a potent military asset, her willingness to consider moving the British
Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, her repeated warnings about Iranās
nuclear threat, are all clear signs that as far as Israel is concerned,
both her heart and mind are in the right place.
Particularly of note is her scathing criticism of how the UN
mistreats Israel at its kangaroo court, singling out for denunciation
the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israel Practices, which she has
called āinstitutionally biased and a waste of money,ā saying āUN
representatives with a history of anti-Semitic remarks should have no
role in reviewing the activities of Israel.ā What more can Jerusalem ask for?
