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."
PM dances to strings of Umno puppet masters By P Gunasegaram
Tuesday, October 04, 2022
Malaysiakini : In the wake of the book, numerous police reports were made against
Thomas and predictably the police and others did launch investigations.
Thomas was questioned by the police regarding the case then but the
Attorney-Generalās Chambers (AGC) pressed no charges.
Umno, and
its leaders, especially those who were charged when Thomas was AG,
protested their āinnocenceā although one of them is already in jail,
talking instead about trumped-up charges and accusing Thomas of bias.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob
No
doubt, under political pressure from his own party Umno, Ismail Sabri
succumbed and in October last year announced the formation of three task forces,
one of which was to investigate allegations made in Thomasā book. The
task force reported its findings to the cabinet recently.
What is
surprising is that Thomas had already been investigated by the police
following over 100 police reports made against him, mostly by Umno
members. What business did the PM have in reopening the investigation by
appointing a cabinet task force? Was he dancing to the strings of his
puppet masters in Umno?
That smacks not only of needless victimisation of the former highest
legal officer in government but a direct and unwarranted interference in
the administration of justice in the country.
Under the
Constitution, the attorney-general (AG) has the sole power to decide on
prosecution. For the PM to put pressure on bodies such as the AGC, the
police and the MACC to reopen investigation is to overstep his limits
and perhaps even break the law!
Although
the PM makes the appointments for the heads of these bodies, he cannot
interfere in their operations by appointing a cabinet committee to
revisit cases which have already been investigated.
A cabinet task
force controlled by an Umno PM cannot even begin to be independent in
such an investigation. This looks more like an attempt to play to the
gallery and to wrongly paint the picture to the Malays of an AG who was
unfriendly to their leaders.
Unprecedented action
Such
a case is unprecedented in the annals of Malaysian history. Here,
archaic and oppressive laws used against terrorists, gangsters and
hardcore criminals who cannot be nabbed legally are being used against a
former AG for doing his rightful job in accordance with the law and the
powers vested with him under the law.
The use of outdated,
archaic laws such as the Sedition Act and the OSA is to be particularly
lamented for it reflects an attempt to intimidate and threaten and has
been used against opposition politicians previously when all else has
failed.
Nothing that Thomas has said in the book discloses
information so vital and crucial to the country that it endangers its
security, and nothing that he has said has caused serious public alarm,
again raising the spectre of intimidation by politicians of government
officials.
What his book has done is raise serious debate about the
administration of justice in the country and pressures that officers of
the law and judiciary face. That is a welcome move in terms of moving
the courts and the justice administration system forward to a fairer
one, and one that is more competent.
For a vital, dynamic and
progressive system of laws and rules to be put in place in a functioning
democracy, public debate and reflection is necessary and that is what
Thomasā book does - it raises issues and suggests some solutions.
What
a travesty of justice! This victimisation of a person who is doing his
job honestly, competently, independently, courageously, and at great
cost to himself - losing income he earned whilst in the private sector,
and exposing himself to danger and actions such as this.
Unlike
the current crop of corrupt to the core key Umno/BN politicians, and
their domineering, uncaring, selfish, and incompetent ways, Thomas was a
breath of fresh air cleaning away the musty, stale odours of past
misdeeds and daring to do what needed to be done.
But Ismail Sabri
canāt stop being a politician to misuse his power - the Umno genes are
too deeply ingrained. He will go down in history as the person who
attempted to influence the course of the administration of justice for
the worse by not trying to bring crooks to the book but to threaten
those who dare to do so.
No previous PM has attempted to try and
prosecute a fair, competent and courageous AG. Not since Dr Mahathir
Mohamadās assault on the independent judiciary and the eventual removal
of the lord president in 1988 has such an attack been made against the
administration of justice.
If Ismail Sabri succeeds, the cost to
the country will be enormous. A process which was started to bring the
powerful, the corrupt and the rich who stole billions and lived
fairytale lifestyles as the country was trying to reach developed
status, may be stopped in its tracks.
Meantime, GE15 is supposed to be around the corner if Ismail Sabri does not have the āscrotal gumptionā,
to borrow Justice Mahadev Shankarās famous phrase, to delay it to a
more appropriate time next year and spare the rakyat the agony of floods
and elections.
And if the elections do come, then the rakyat
should exercise their prerogative and deny this backdoor, incompetent
and corrupt government victory, thereby killing this latest assault on
the administration of justice.
And with that, a whole litany of grievances too long to go into in this discussion.
