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."
'Malbatt - Misi Bakara' not 90pct factual as claimed By Abdul Latif Ahmad & Mohd Rozi Baharom
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Malaysiakini : The interpreter by the name of Abdelle had to sacrifice his wife and
son to the street attack by the militias who rained rapid gunshots at
them. All because he sheltered our troops during the operation at his
house.
This episode is nonsensical. No Somali interpreter was ever
involved during the Bakara rescue mission. It is absurd for Malbatt to
engage a local Somali in a military/Malbatt operation.
The portrayal of Abdelle in this film is fictitious, made dramatic to add flavour to the story. This is regrettable.
Soldiers leering scene false
A
scene in this film shows a white reporter visiting our Malbatt 1 camp
looking disappointed at not being able to meet and interview an officer,
simultaneously depicting two of our Malbatt soldiers looking on
foolishly and leeringly at her.
Suddenly, an explosion and
shootings broke out in the background. The two soldiers reacted by
pushing her down to the ground with one of them having his arm around
her back shoulders.
This incident never occurred. Itās foolhardy.
This journalist appeared again in another scene at the end of the film
in a flirtatious gesture.
It must be noted that all Malbatt 1
officers and men are highly disciplined and morally upright, especially
when we serve in UN peacekeeping missions.
No nonsense. Nobody from the outside is allowed to enter the camp freely and unescorted. The commander is always alerted.
This
intrusion by the foreign journalist is a mere travesty. Those officers
and men of Malbatt 1 still around today would feel disgusted by this
fake episode showing the undisciplined and lack of professionalism of
our soldiers.
Scenes showing an officer in an APC moving towards
the objective, nonchalantly whistling a Western tune while the rest of
his crew looked apprehensively, and that of a Malbatt soldier blaring
out abusively at US soldiers, ābodoh dan bangangā (stupid and idiotic), were just untrue, trying to depict the negative traits of our soldiers.
Dog tagkissing didnot happen
Another
scene depicting our soldiers in an APC kissing his dog tag/identity
disc is dubious by a Muslim soldier, giving a questionable connotation.
The
act of kissing a dog tag for some kind of blessing is tantamount to a
blasphemous doing. Our soldiers are certainly not taught to kiss their
dog tags when going on a mission.
Itās alright if the scene
depicts a soldier being a Christian kissing his cross in prayer. Showing
it in the film could label a Muslim soldier as ungodly (fasik).
Another
scene shows one of our soldiers signalling to the Americans to follow
him to a safer area in the streets of Bakara Market, stating he was
familiar with the area.
This episode is not true since Malbatt 1
and other peace-keeping troops serving under the United Nations
Operation in Somalia II (Unosom II) were not allowed to enter the area
by the order of Force Headquarters. The Bakara Market vicinity was out
of bounds to all troops.
The portrayal of Colonel Rahman as a
boisterous loudmouth Malbatt commander, yelling at an officer under him,
is another negative portrayal bordering on character assassination of
the then-real commander, Colonel Abdul Latif Ahmad.
The latter served as a diplomat in his career - military attache at the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore.
Highly regrettable dramatisation
Whatās more, it is a fact that the statement, āThis operation is a suicidal missionā was never uttered by a Malbatt 1 officer.
Officers
and men of Malbatt 1 were professionals, uprightly trained and
disciplined. There existed a strong bond of trust and comradeship
without having to be blatant and abusive.
The depiction of this
scene is highly regrettable, especially so when it never really happened
that way at Malbatt 1 tactical headquarters in Mogadishu back in 1993.
Finally,
a scene at Malbatt 1 tactical headquarters showing officers shaking
hands with the commander on the successful completion of the rescue
mission is also untrue.
It
was an emotional moment when we lost one life - Corporal Mat Aznan
Awang - and nine soldiers were injured. On the ranks of the American
troops and Pakistani soldiers, there were also deaths and casualties.
How could we ācelebrateā during an emotional occasion?
It is great
to produce a highly dramatic film showing acts of patriotism by our
troops in action, earning high respect from UN allied commanders for our
contribution to the peacekeeping expectations in Somalia some 30 years
ago.
And to do so makes our viewers feel proud of being
Malaysians. But it should not have been overblown to make it a
blockbuster movie. We have our reservations.
We wish to emphasise
again that most scenes and episodes which were shown in the film were
not ā90 percent accurate and factualā as publicised.
ABDUL LATIF AHMAD is a retired brigadier-general and former commander Malbatt 1, Unosom II, 1993.
MOHD ROZI BAHAROM is a retired major-general and former deputy commander Malbatt 1, Unosom II, 1993.