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."
Pedro Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) in the making, the island we lost to Singapore
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
They are armed, what is the Malaysian Armed Forces doing about this armed incursion? Over the years have they must have turned into pussies, after being equipped with state of the art weapons? Or they just do not have the heart to go into battle? Amazing ain't it, from a formidable jungle fighting force, fighting the communists and Indonesians, we have turned out to be a bunch of pansies. Many young soldiers have been maimed and killed fighting the enemies of the state, preserving Malaysia's sovereignty. Is this how we want to repay those who have been maimed and who have laid down their precious young lives by treating this invaders with kid gloves, instead of treating them like enemies of the state? More than 150 armed terrorist just "marched" into Lahad Datuk
like their own grandfather's land and making stupid demands and our mentally challenged Kerismuddin and Zahid just could not wipe them out. They have been sleeping on the job!! Seriously are they fit for the job?
Sabah Incursion Inspired by the Bay of Pigs InvasionByNeal H. Cruz from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine and Malaysian governments better do something fast
about the Sabah standoff before it erupts into a shooting war. The 100
armed followers of the sultan of Sulu are armed with assorted
high-powered firearms. They must have gone to Sabah ready to fight. Why
else would they have brought guns? The Sulu force is surrounded by Malaysian security forces. One
false move and it can be mowed down. The leaders on both sides must have
cool heads or the whole thing can deteriorate into a major tragedy.
Both Philippine and Malaysian governments have urged the āinvadersā to
go back home, but the latter wonāt budge.
So what is there to do?
The Sulu sultanās followers
understandably donāt want to go back home with their tails between their
legs. On the other hand, the Malaysian government cannot let them stay
either. They are clearly, from the Malaysian point of view, invaders,
interlopers, outsiders. They have to be ejected, or it would be the
Malaysian government that would lose face. The Philippine government either does not know what to do or does
not want to get involved. But how can it not get involved when those
are Filipinos out there? Yes, the Philippines has asked them to come
home and āletās see what we can do later.ā But considering the many
years that the Philippine government did nothing, obviously not wanting
to ruffle the feathers of its wealthier and more powerful neighbor, will
the Sultanate of Sulu still have faith in its government?
In fact, the sultanās followers say that they were forced to take
this drastic action because the Philippine government has āabandonedā
them. But what must be in the minds of the sultan and his followers?
Obviously, their measly force is no match to the Malaysian security
forces. Perhaps what they had in mind was to wage a guerrilla war in
Sabah, taking a cue from the successful guerrilla war that Fidel Castro
waged in Cuba against the forces of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.
That is why they landed very far away from Sabahās capital, Kota
Kinabalu. Perhaps they are hoping that Sabahans would join them. Sabah,
after all, is settled mostly by Tausug from Sulu. Many of them are most
likely relatives of the āinvadersā from Sulu. Sabah is only an hour away
by kumpit from Tawi-Tawi, and residents from both sides routinely
commute between them for trade.
Indeed, Tawi-Tawi and Sabah folk
consider themselves part of one island group.
Instead of igniting a Castro-style guerrilla war in Sabah,
however, what the Sulu force achieved was more like the ill-fated Bay of
Pigs invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles trained, equipped and sent by the
United States during the administration of President John F. Kennedy.
As was the Cuban government in the Bay of Pigs, the Malaysians were
tipped of the āinvasionā and were ready when the āinvadersā arrived. In
the Bay of Pigs, the āinvadersā were routed by the Cuban forces. In
Sabah, the Filipinos were fortunate that the Malaysian security forces
did not open fire immediately but merely surrounded them, perhaps
mindful of the bloody carnage that would have ensued.
The Philippine government has called for a peaceful solution to
the standoff.
Both sides are now in a flurry of negotiations with the
leaders of the Sulu force who refuse to leave, saying that they should
not be expelled as Sabah is part of the Sultanate of Sulu. āWe are not
invaders,ā they said, āwe are just coming home.ā Going back to its origins, Sabah was indeed part of the Sultanate
of Sulu. It was leased sometime in the 1800s by the British North
Borneo Company for a yearly amount. When the Federation of Malaysia was
formed, the British company handed it over to the new government of
Malaysia. Up to recent years, Malaysia recognized the ownership of Sabah
by the Sultanate of Sulu and paid it the annual lease.
The Philippine government raised the Sabah
claim during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, which
urged that the claim be decided by the world court or the United
Nations. Malaysia, however, knowing that the Philippines had a valid
claim, refused to take the case to an international body.
The Malaysian government allows arms to flow to MILF and other Muslim riff raff in the south of the Philippines. What's makes you think Manila cares what happens to Malaysia?
The Malaysian government allows arms to flow to MILF and other Muslim riff raff in the south of the Philippines. What's makes you think Manila cares what happens to Malaysia?