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."
The day Najib offered to make America great again By R Nadeswaran
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Malaysiakini : Whether the offers made had materialised is not known but what
Malaysians know is that Najibās visit was trumpeted as a great success.
Bernama
reported triumphantly, quoting a White House official as saying that
after the meeting, Trump accompanied Najib to the door to send him off,
instead of them departing at the main floor where the president would
normally send off visiting leaders.
āTrump
was reminded by one of his officers of this, but he (president) told
him that he will accompany Najib downstairs to depart. Trump said āhe
(PM) is my friendā,ā the agency quoted the official as saying.
Back
in Kuala Lumpur, the local juggernaut swung into action. Letters were
sent to various organisations and political parties to welcome Najib on
his return home. A large crowd was at the airport to receive him.
But
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang was quick off the block when he asked: āWhy
is the five-minute 58 seconds transcript of the Trump-Najib exchange in
the White House cabinet room so humiliating for Malaysians, as the tone
and tenor of the exchange did not sound like one between two equals
representing two sovereign nations, but like those between a monarch and
a chieftain of a vassal state bearing gifts, like bunga mas to the sovereign?ā
Lim Kit Siang
He was right. There was much more - a cepu mas
(jackpot) of US$75 million (RM330 million) was offered to a top
Republican donor close to Trump from Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) - the man at
the centre of the 1MDB scandal if he could get the US to stop its
investigations.
The Wall Street Journalreported
that Elliott Broidy, a long-time Republican donor and his wife, Robin
Rosenzweig, discussed setting up a consulting contract with Low, citing
emails that the publication reviewed.
One
email showed a proposal that would have given Broidy and his wife US$75
million (RM330 million) if they could get the Justice Department (DOJ)
to drop its probe into 1MDB.
Broidy also prepared talking points for
Najib for that meeting with Trump. Some of the talking points included
talking up Malaysiaās relationship with the US in fighting North Korea
and arguing against the legal pursuit of 1MDB.
Just before GE14, the New York Times spilt more details-
Broidy, among others, was accused of using his White House connections
to try to organise a golf game between Trump and Najib and was indicted.
Broidyās attempts to curry
favour with Najib through the golf date were seen in direct and
insistent communications with the White House.
According to the
newspaper, for Trump, a golf date with Najib could have fuelled
criticism that the president is indifferent to the appearance of
corruption since the 1MDB was being investigated by the DOJ for
kleptocracy.
Elliott Broidy
On
Oct 21, 2020, Broidy pleaded guilty to a charge that he had illegally
lobbied Trump to drop an investigation into the 1MDB scandal.
At
a hearing before Washington DC federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly,
Broidy pleaded guilty to a felony charge that he conspired to violate
the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Prosecutors
alleged that Broidy received millions of dollars in payments to try to
arrange the end of a US investigation into billions of dollars embezzled
from 1MDB.
On Jan 21 last year ā
Trumpās last day in office, Broidy was granted a full pardon. His name
appeared on a list issued by the White House of 143 individuals who had
been granted pardons or reduced sentences.
But the penchant for
spin doctors did not end there. In March, at the height of the trial of
former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, Najib had reportedly hired New
York-based firm Karv Communications to manage his portrayal in the trial
and provide media relations support.
Washington DC-based news outfit Politico quoted
a Karv spokesperson saying the firm will āhelp ensure Najibās actions
and views are understood by US journalists and presented accurately in
any US media coverage ā including during the trial of Roger Ngā.
According
to the report, Karv will serve as a sub-contractor to Najibās Malaysian
lawyer, Tania Scivetti, for an initial two months ā for which the
company would earn US$140,000 (RM586,000) along the way.
This
whole episode is another blot in our dark history when an attempt was
yet again made with money to cover the billions that were stolen from
Malaysia and change the course of justice.
These events cannot be
erased and will be constant reminders of the pink diamonds, Birkin bags
and the extravagance which are associated with 1MDB, Low, Najib and his
family.
As
we tighten our belts, all Malaysians, especially our leaders have to be
constantly prompted of the ills of their predecessors.
To the
politician who espoused that stealing is not an offence until you get
caught, the long arm of the law encompasses the far corners of the
earth.
Catching
the culprit has become easier, with all the technological advancements
that mankind has made. Not just electronic transfers and cashless cards
but there is a whole gamut of information on wrongdoings out there.
It is just a matter of when it catches up with you.
