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."
Malaysiakini : It was all about power and
ambition, nothing more. To cover up the power play, the new chief
minister is talking about forming a āunityā exco; as if that couldnāt
have been accomplished under the previous chief minister.
It
may be recalled that Zahid was behind a similar move in Sabah when his
henchman there tried to orchestrate the overthrow of the state
government. Though the plan failed when local assemblypersons refused to
go along with it, the plotting continues.
What
does it say about Zahidās priorities when he continues to undermine the
political stability that his boss the prime minister is working so hard
to consolidate? Make no mistake, Zahidās power plays are rubbing a lot
of Umno members the wrong way and could backfire against both Umno and
the unity government.
It
is not the only example of Zahid and Umno working at cross purposes
with the overall thrust of Anwarās unity government. The ridiculous
vendetta against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas by Umnoās Azalina
Othman Said (law and institutional reform minister) is another jarring note.
With all the pressing challenges
facing the government, why go after a Pakatan Harapan appointee who did
his job with courage, integrity and professionalism? It makes no sense
except to feed the fake Umno narrative that its leaders were unfairly
persecuted by Thomas.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
And
then there are all those crony appointments by Zahid which fly smack in
the face of the prime ministerās commitment to good governance. Havenāt
we had enough of Umno political appointees who ended up stealing public
funds and mismanaging the agencies they were appointed to?
Credibility of Anwar administration
Why
the need to bring back politicians who were such a big part of the
culture of corruption and abuse of power that has done so much damage to
our nation?
Anthony
Loke (DAP) and others might jump through hoops to justify Zahidās
appalling appointments but the people are not so easily fooled. All they
see are conniving and unprincipled politicians who canāt be trusted to
honour their promises and live up to their own ideals.
Of
course, Anwar needs Zahid and Umno to maintain a stable majority in
Parliament. To keep Zahid onside, the prime minister might feel he has
to allow Zahid a free hand and give him some free passes too including
the suspicious decision by ROS to help Zahid avoid an internal
leadership challenge and the surprising move by the AGC not to object to
Zahidās request for the return of his passport.
But sooner or later, it isgoing to affect the credibility of the Anwar administration.
Certainly,
it is going to be very embarrassing when Zahid, with his freshly
regained diplomatic passport, makes his first foray abroad as one of the
faces of the Anwar administration.
What message will it convey to the
world when the deputy prime minister of a government that is supposedly
committed to good governance and fighting corruption is himself facing
multiple charges of corruption, money laundering and abuse of power?
If
Zahid had any loyalty to his prime minister, he would simply stay at
home until the case against him has been resolved; but Zahid is too
focused on redeeming himself to care about what the world thinks about
the unity government.
If
Anwar wants to ensure his administration thrives, he needs to find a
way to rein in Zahidās worst instincts and put his own agenda ā the
agenda that he speaks so passionately and unceasingly about ā front and
centre of everything the administration does.
The unity government must be about Anwarās agenda, not Zahidās personal quest to redeem himself and consolidate his own power.
