Rudyard Kipling"
“When 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 soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It 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."
Remembering 901161 WO 2 Lenggu ak China Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa
Correction in this story, on the name of
Lenggu's wife. His wife's name was Lindan ak Galau, she is the daughter
of Tuai Rumah Galau,Nanga Engkuah. Thanks to Sekechai, for this
information. Further information I received from a Guest in the comments
was this: 901759 Sergeant Nyanggau ak Sumping PPS, BBS, was the unsung
hero who came up with the iniative to light up the Landing Point with
solid fuel (hexamine tablets) to facilitate the the safe landing of a
RMAF helicopter at night to airlift 2Lt Annuar Basha togther with the
wounded soldiers. Without his courage efforts and initiative to save his
fellow soldiers lives, the RMAF helicopter would not have made it to
airlift the wounded heroes.
The 3rd Malaysian Infantry Brigade was under the the command of the 1st Division in Region 2.
The Commander of Region 2 was a Major General Dato Syed Mohamad bin
Syed Ahmad Al-Sagoff. Whereas 3 Brigade was commanded by Brig Gen
Mohamad Ghazali bin Dato Mohamad Seth. The Tactical Headquarters of 3
Brigade was located at Kanowit. This was during Operations Spear Head 111. The units involved in this operations were the 1st Battalion Rangers, 1st
Squadron Special Forces and the 1st Battalion Royal Malay Regiment. All
units were tasked to clear the areas between the border of Sarawak and
Kalimantan, heading South until Batang Rajang. Before the Commander of 1
Div left the service he made a courtesy call on the 1st Battalion
Rangers, which was based in Nanga Engkuah, Sungei Katibas, Song. The
Commanding Officer at that time was Lt Col Syed Abdul Aziz bin Syed
Razak. The CO was to join the Divisional Commander at a farewell party
organised by the civillian authorities in Sibu for the night.
2Lt Anuar Basha Khan bi Hj Zakaria (410438),
was contacted by his CO on the morning of the 20th January 1971 at
around 1100 hours through the radio set. He was at that time the
Regimental Signals Officer, his CO directed him to go to Nanga Bangkit,
which was located in the Sungei Katibas area, in the lower Nanga Engkuah
area. He was tasked to inform all the heads of the long houses (Tuai
Rumah) to come to the 1st Rangers Tactical Headquarters for a Civic
Action Meeting, between the CO of 1st Rangers and the Elders of the Long
Houses, on the 21st January 1971. Apart from that, they were required
to find out the construction materials needed to build a hostel for
students in Nanga Bangkit by the Assault Pioneer Platoon of the 1st
Rangers.
Before lunch, 2Lt Anuar instructed 901161 WO 2 Lenggu ak China to prepare 12 men for the move, including the CSMI (Lenggu ak China). The rest of the party were
901564 Rgr Umok ak Mambang, 901326 Rgr Lian Anyi, 901564 Rgr Limping ak
Gayang, 901468 Rgr Engkas ak Judik, 901591 Rgr Nawawi bin Saffie,
901685 Rgr Kelabu ak Nyalang, 901720 Rgr Midong ak Gundi, 901686 Rgr
Suntai ak Duin, 901422 Rgr Shaffiee bib Saat and 208072 Signaller Ahmad
bin Shafie. Their mission in the evening was to get the
information on construction material required for the hostels. Also to
make sure that all the Elders of the Long Houses were informed about the
meeting that was to take place on the 21st January at 1000 hours the
following day in the morning. At precisely 1400 hours WO2 Lenggu
reported to 2Lt Anuar along with the men. 2Lt Anuar gave his orders
before the move. He emphasized on riverine anti-ambush drills.
* During that period there
were no clearly defined manuals on riverine ambush, that is, in the
event whilst moving in a boat, the courses of action to be taken by the
soldiers in a boat. Left :The covetted "Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa" which supersedes the title Tun or any other.
2Lt Anuar had to be innovative and imaginative
in giving out his orders for actions on probable or likely events that
could happen on a move. He had to conjure up all of this using his
appreciation (logical sequence of thought) skills. When a commander
appreciates, he takes into consideration, the "ground", routes, best
approaches" and many other factors, deriving at a best solution. Most of
the time not perfect, though workable, which will be translated into
orders, for the men.
The "Sungei" Katibas is deep, swift flowing and a
treacherous river especially during the rainy season. The rainy season
was between October and February. This makes the river wide to around 30
to 40 meters. All of them were aware that a possiblity of an ambush
happening was very likely, as the route was used every two or three days
for resupply tasks. Song was located at the lower reaches off Nanga
Engkuah, where the !st Ranger's Tactical Headquarters was located. The
movement by boat between Song and Nanga Engkuah normally takes three and
a half hours.
At around 1430 hours in the evening, they left Nanga
Engkuah. The lead boat carried 6 soldiers, the in - charge was WO 2
Lenggu ak China. He was ordered to move close to the right bank of the
river. The other boat commanded by 2Lt Anuar comprising of 7 men moved
close to the left bank of the river behind the leading boat. From Nanga
Engkuah they headed straight to Nanga Bangkit, where 2Lt Anuar met up
with the teacher of the school. He got all the information pertaining to
material requirements for the building of a hostel for that school.
On the way back they stopped at all the Long Houses,
on the left and right of the Sungei Katibas, to inform them of the
meeting, that was to come to the 1st Rangers Tactical Headquarters for a
Civic Action Meeting, between them and the CO of 1st Rangers. After
stopping at Rumah Eton, the sixth Long House, they headed towards Rumah
Dinggai. Rumah Dinggai was believed to be a strong supporter of North
Kalimantan Communist Party, this was based on the intelligence gathered
on that particular Long House. Rumah Dinggai was located on the right
bank of the Sungei Katibas, around 500 metres upstream was the Sungei
Ning which flowed into the Sungei Katibas. At the meeting of the two
rivers was a cape, which was known as Cape Batu Babi ( Tanjung Batu
Babi). Here the right bank of the river was hilly and covered with thick
vegetation. As the boat was crossing the estuary of the Sungei Ning,
they were fired upon from the right bank.
The outboard motor of the leading boat became the main
target of the Communist Terrorists. They then, started firing at the
soldiers in the boats. The soldiers in the boats who had anticipated an
ambush happening, had earlier cocked (locked and loaded) their weapons
before the move. They returned fire to the river bank where the hostile
fire was coming from. As the boat of WO 2 Lenggu was closest to the
right bank of the river, the momentum of the now disabled outboard
motor, made the boat run aground on the banks of Cape Batu Babi.
WO 2 Lenngu ak China leapt out of the boat onto the bank in a flash. Though in a very dangerous situation, he yelled out the words " Charge !! Charge !! Charge !! Charge !!"
Firing into the enemy on the run, in the true fighting spirit of an
Iban Warrior, displaying valour in the highest traditions of the Ranger
Corps. Five of his men like wise followed him, the bullets of the
dastardly enemy slammed into them that fateful day. They fired into the
enemy, hitting some of the enemy. They continued firing until they could
move no more. They fell and lay still.
2Lt Anuar on seeing this happening, yelled out the cry of the Ranger Corps, to rally his men, "Agi Idup !!" He received a resounding reply of "Agi Ngelaban !!"
, from his men. They opened fire on the enemy concentrating on the
right bank. The enemy must have at that moment identified 2Lt Anuar as
the Leader, started bringing fire to bear on him. The whole boat of his
was now being concentrated upon by the enemy. The boat's engine went
dead after repeatedly being hit. They tried to start it, it did not
work. They were on the left bank. As this was happening Rgr Suntai was
hit in the head by a round from the enemy, the impact hurled him into
the river. His body was found two days later. Two of 2Lt Anuar's men,
Rgr Engkas and Rgr Kelabu threw themselves into the river to escape the
fusillade of fire directed at them. A normal reaction when there is no
cover. They swam to the left bank, took cover and returned fire. 2Lt
Anuar, Rgr Nawawi, Rgr Midong and Signaller Ahmad were the only ones
left on a spinning boat. Spinning, as the boat was adrift at the
confluence of two rivers, the Sungei Katibas and Sungei Ning, the
currents were strong.
Even as the boat spinned the men in the boat continued
returning fire. 2Lt Anuar felt, something hit him on the head very
hard. he looked to the left and right, he saw that his men were still
fighting back fiercely against the enemy. He felt his head and felt
blood flow freely from his head. Only then did he realise that he had
been shot in the head by the enemy. This made him furious, he continued
firing at the enemy. As he put in his fourth magazine of bullets, his
fingers did not have the strength to squeeze the trigger anymore. Rgr
Midong who was in front saw his commander hit, was soon after that shot
himself, his wrist was penetrated by a .303 round and his left knee hit
by shotgun pellets. After that even though he continued firing, his
shots were not that effective. Rgr Nawawi alone continued firing,
Signaller Ahmad too was shot. As they were being fired at, the skies
opened up with a heavy downpour. This was a blessing in disguise as the
enemy could not aim accurately anymore, as it was raining cats and dogs.
The shooting lasted for another 5 minutes. After that the enemy
withdrew.
The boat was adrift, after 20 minutes of drifting
carried by the swift currents, no one was moving in that boat, except
for Rgr Nawawi. This drifting boat by chance, came across the boat
carrying their Commanding Officer, Lt Col Syed Abdul Aziz bin Syed Razak
who was on his way from Song to Nanga Engkuah. 2Lt Anuar was carried to
Rumah Eton, whilst one of his soldier's Rgr Nawawi took the CO and his
escort to the place where the ambush occured. When they reached the spot
where the ambush occured they found WO2 Lenggu ak China barely alive,
badly wounded. The soldiers who charged the
enemy with Lenggu gave their ultimate sacrifice for this nation in the
highest traditions of the Ranger Corps, with life's blood, Malaysian
fashion. They were Rgr Umok, Rgr Lian, Rgr Limping, Rgr Shafie and Rgr
Merican who lay lifeless in the same position they fought the enemy
from. The CO brought back the badly wounded Lenggu to the
Tactical Headquarters. He ordered Lt Ragunathan to lead a section (10
men) of men to conduct a follow up on the enemy. He was also ordered to
destroy them. Lt Ragunathan with his men started tracking the enemy from
the enemy ambush position. In the ambush position they found 5 dead
soldiers and two of the enemy dead, killed by Lenggu and his men. The
enemy, from the tracks left behind was estimated to be 27 strong. The
following day Lt Ragunathan came upon the bodies of two more dead enemy,
who had died of their wounds, inflicted by Lenggu and his men. Another
boat carried 2Lt Anuar, Rgr Midong and Signaller Ahmad back to the
Tactical Headquarters. 2Lt Anuar was placed on a stretcher beside Lenggu
who was in critical condition with wounds to his stomach and head.
The CO had already requested for an air evacuation for
all the wounded. Those days it was quite difficult to get air support
as there were a limited number of aircraft, not that the Airforce did
not want to oblige. This worried 2Lt Anuar. Luck was on their side,
later at night a helicopter arrived to land on a LP, lit by a full moon
at 2030 hours. The helicopter was commanded
by Captain Leong Fok Siong (RMAF) and his co-pilot was Lt Aziz bin Alwi
(RMAF), the navigator was Lt Munusamy(RMAF). There was a
doctor in attendance, who treated them for their immediate needs. The
helicopter arrived too late for WO2 Lenggu ak China. He died before the
heli arrived. His body was not flown out. He was buried at Nanga Engkuah
as his wife, Undan ak Gulau, was from Rumah Gani, in Nanga Engkuah. 2Lt
Anuar, Rgr Midong and Signaller Ahmad were flown to Sibu, straight to
Hospital Lau Kimg Howe.
2Lt Anuar's head was operated on, he was unconcious
for several days. Seeing that his chances for survival were slim, his
parents from Penang were flown over, to be by his side. Miraculously he
recovered, he had to undergo physiotheraphy to regain his faculties. He
had to learn how to read, speak and write again, as the bullet had
damaged his brain, affecting his performance. He overcame all these odds
stacked against him. He rose to the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel,
pushed by a strong deternination to succeed.
WO2 Lenggu ak China was born in Sungei Baloh, Ngemah,
Kanowit, Sarawak in 1944. He begun his military career on the 10th
February 1964 by joining the 1st Battalion Rangers. He was in the
Support Platoon of 1st Rangers rising to the rank of WO2, his
appointment being Company Sergeant Major Instructor (CSMI).
An appointment related to assisting the CO in the training of the
Battalion. When he died his wife, Undan ak Galau was pregnant. She gave
birth to a child, Valentine ak Lenggu around 8 months after the death of
Lenggu. Valentine followed the footsteps of his father by joining the
Army. He also left behind two other children from his earlier marriage
with his first wife. They were Georgaiana and Sthalman ak Lenggu.
Undan ak Galau related that, on that fateful day," I
was in the Long House, when I heard that my husband was involved in a
battle. I was worried as he told me that he was not going anywhere that
morning. I rushed to the Tactical Headquarters to see my husband. I saw
how badly he was wounded, I just could not contain my tears. He told me
in the beginning not to cry and that he would not die. As they were
carrying him to the Officer's Mess at the Tactical Headquarters, he
whispered very softly to me that he was going to die. Before that he
told Lt Col Syed Abdul Aziz not to worry, as I was carrying someone to
replace him (" Tidak mengapa saya mati tuan saya sudah ada pengganti")." She remained a widow bringing up her only child and her two step children.
For his valour in the face of the enemy, against great
odds, in the highest tradition of the Ranger Corps the King bestowed
upon him the nation's highest valour award, the "Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa". The award was presented to Undan ak Galau on the 26th June 1976. Source. * "Years later when I was
the G3 Ops of HQ 1 Div, I got hold of some documents from the SB, which
were kept in the Ops Room. One of them was a confession recorded by the
commander of the Sg Katibas ambush. In it he said that he had observed
the movements of soldiers along the river and had prepared the ambush in
advance. He never expected anyone to walk out of there alive, as the
killing ground was well covered. Lenggu's frontal assault was totally unexpected and crazy, he said. Lenggu managed to kill some of his men and that prompted him to abandon the position when it became untenable." - Lt Col (Rtd) Fatholzaman Bukhari
The Saudis’ PR ‘Roads’ Show One of a series of lavish attempts to throw sand in the eyes of the West By Nina Shea
Even
before the “Arab spring” revolts — indeed, ever since the 9/11 attacks
on American soil by mostly Saudi terrorists — the Saudi royal family has
assiduously waged a public-relations campaign to improve its image by
sponsoring major cultural initiatives in the West. In 2012 alone, these
included the opening of the King Abdullah interfaith-dialogue center in
Vienna, an Islamic-art wing at the Louvre in Paris, and “Roads of
Arabia,” an archaeological exhibition now on display in Washington,
D.C., at the Smithsonian Institution.
All these are sophisticated and lavish attempts to throw sand in our
eyes. At home, meanwhile, the Wahhabi-partnered monarchy has yet to shed
its grossly intolerant ideology and policies toward other religions,
which it so dangerously has spread to Muslim communities in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Somalia, and other countries. No church or other
non-Muslim house of worship is allowed in Saudi Arabia. This, despite
the fact that, as Christoph Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna observed
last June to an influential Washington audience, Saudi Arabia may now
be home to one of the Middle East’s largest Christian populations. Over a
million of Saudi Arabia’s foreign workers may be Christians, and some,
like the Filipino chauffeur who drove me around Riyadh in 2011, have
lived there for several decades. Foreign workers who attempt to gather quietly in house churches are
hunted down by the religious police. Such was the fate of 35 Ethiopian
Christians in Jeddah who were arrested, strip-searched, and jailed
without due process for nearly eight months last year for secretly
holding a Christmas-season worship service. Bibles cannot be distributed in the kingdom. Christian signs and
symbols cannot be displayed; religious garb, rosaries, and crosses are
prohibited from view. When an Italian soccer team came to play a match
in Saudi Arabia, it had to blot out part of the cross on the team’s
jerseys, turning their logo into a stroke instead. Even secular symbols
associated with Christmas are banned; one year, in the American school, a
Santa Claus barely dodged the religious police by escaping through a
window.
And Saudi policy is to spread this intolerance to other Muslim communities. Corner readers will recall that Cliff May reported on
a stark reminder of this: the March 2012 directive of the Saudi grand
mufti, who serves at the pleasure of the king and whose salary is paid
by the state, declaring that it was “necessary to destroy all the
churches in” the region. Part of the solution is the reform of public education, which
continues to indoctrinate students in violent and hate-filled teachings
toward the religious “other.” Repeatedly over several years, and despite
documentation
to the contrary, American foreign-policy experts have taken Saudi
disinformation about textbook reform at face value. As Stephen Schwartz
reports, Karen Elliott House’s otherwise informative new book, On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines — and Future, appears to fall for it as well. Some of the revised textbooks are now posted on the Saudi government’s official website.
So far, however, these do not include the problematic tenth-,
eleventh-, and twelfth-grade textbooks. These upper-grade texts include
lessons on the need to fight “infidels” and “polytheists” unless they
convert to Islam or take out protection contracts with the Muslims. One
text calls for punishing apostates with death unless they repent.
Another promotes “jihad” for “wrestling with the unbelievers by calling
them [to the faith] and fighting them.” And Saudi textbooks are
disseminated globally. As for the “revised” materials on the Saudi website, they too
continue to teach shocking lessons in intolerance. In a section
headlined “Beneficial lessons from the conquest of Khaybar,” for
example, one seventh-grade book issued by the Education Ministry now
instructs:
A. The Jews are a cunning and malicious people, and it is in their
nature to break treaties. B. People of the covenant (ahl al dhimma/Jews
& Christians) are permitted to remain in the Abode of Islam when
[the Muslims] have triumphed over them, and if it is to the benefit of
the Muslims. C. Joining into a period of agreement with the people of
the covenant (ahl al-dhimma/Jews & Christians) is permitted when
[the Muslims] have triumphed over them, and according to the will of the
Muslims’ leader. National Review
If past is prologue, the White House will oversee the release of the 1993 WTC bomber By Michelle Malkin
Egypt’s
terror-coddling president, Mohamed Morsi, has repeated his arrogant
demand that America free convicted 1993 World Trade Center mastermind
Omar Abdel Rahman. I’d like to report that President Obama repeated his
unequivocal rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood leader’s entreaties. But
as of this writing, no such public statement or restatement yet exists. That’s right. Obama has kept mum about Morsi’s vociferous lobbying on
behalf of Abdel Rahman, the “blind sheik,” who is serving a life
sentence at a maximum-security prison in North Carolina for seditious
jihad conspiracy. The commander-in-chief’s silence speaks volumes.
Morsi started publicly haranguing the U.S. to have mercy on the ol’
blind sheik back in September. Representative Peter King (R., N.Y.)
confirmed to the New York Post at the time that the Egyptian
government had “asked for his release” and that the Obama administration
was considering the request. Underlings denied any talks were underway, but pressure on the White
House had been building since at least last June, when the State
Department granted a visa to a member of the radical Egyptian terrorist
group Gamaa Islamiyya (the very group the blind sheik is alleged to
lead). The Gamaa Islamiyya representative joined an entire delegation of
Egyptian lawmakers who met with top State Department and White House
officials. They reportedly discussed the possible release of the blind
sheik with at least one Obama national-security official.
In late August, Gamaa Islamiyya scheduled and organized a protest at
the Cairo embassy to further ratchet up public pressure to free the
blind sheik. Not coincidentally, a terror mob attacked the Cairo embassy
on 9/11/12. While Obama minions were busy blaming an obscure YouTube
video, the Department of Homeland Security had warned two days before
the Cairo attack that jihadists were inciting the “sons of Egypt” to
attack the embassy over Abdel Rahman. “Let your slogan be: No to the
American Embassy in Egypt until our detained sheikh is released,” the
incitement thundered.Morsi has now amended his plea to include an array of “humane”
benefits and visitation privileges for the murderous Islamic cleric
“because he is a man, an old man, and he deserves full care.” Lest you need reminding, the wily blind sheik has used his visitation
privileges to wreak more terror from behind bars. His radical left-wing
lawyer Lynne Stewart was convicted in 2005 of helping her client, the
imprisoned sheik, smuggle coded messages of Islamic violence to outside
followers, in violation of an explicit pledge to abide by her client’s
court-ordered isolation. This “old man” is a virulent anti-American propagandist who condemned
Americans as “descendants of apes and pigs who have been feeding from
the dining tables of the Zionists, Communists, and colonialists.” He has
called on Muslims to “destroy” the West, “burn their companies,
eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes,
kill them on the sea, air, or land.” And he has issued bloody fatwas
against U.S. “infidels” that inspired the 1993 WTC bombing; the 1997
massacre of Western tourists in Luxor, Egypt; and the 9/11 attacks.
As GOP watchdogs call for Obama to keep the blind sheik locked up, we
will no doubt hear more slick protestations that the White House has
“no plans” to release the terror preacher. But I’m with Andrew McCarthy,
the former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Abdel Rahman:
McCarthy warned last fall, “There’s no way to believe anything they say.”
This is the administration, after all, that endorsed the release of
convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, whose terrorist act
resulted in the murder of 189 Americans. The Obama White House feigned
“surprise” over the release, but documents obtained by the Sunday Times
of London in 2010 revealed that the administration “secretly advised
Scottish ministers that it would be ‘far preferable’ to free the
Lockerbie bomber than jail him in Libya.” This is the administration whose attorney general was a senior law
partner for Gitmo-detainee cheerleaders Covington and Burling.
This is the administration that tried to shove Cirque du Jihad
civilian trials in NYC down America’s throat, over objections from 9/11
families and national-security experts. This is the administration that has rolled out the red carpet for
scores of visitors who belong to groups serving as fronts for the Muslim
Brotherhood, Hamas, and other militant Islamic outfits. This is the administration that lied and blamed a YouTube video for
its own dereliction of duty at our consulate in Benghazi, Libya. This is the administration that suffers from chronic and deadly
apologitis when it comes to dealing with the demands of the Religion of
Perpetual Outrage. This is the administration that continues to deny it has plans to
shut down Guantanamo Bay and transfer inmates to the U.S., all while it
has quietly moved forward to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center in
western Illinois “to provide humane and secure confinement of
individuals held under authority of any Act of Congress” — meaning Gitmo
detainees. Denial is a river that runs through 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but the
Obama administration’s tone-deaf acts of jihad appeasement speak for
themselves. Concern is more than warranted. It’s de rigueur. National Review
A sergeant in Saudi Arabia's air force was jailed in Las
Vegas on charges that he pulled a young boy into a hotel room and sexually
assaulted him the morning of Sin City's big New Year's Eve fireworks
extravaganza. Mazen Alotaibi, 23, faces charges including kidnapping,
sexual assault with a minor and felony coercion that could get him decades in
state prison, according to police and charging documents obtained Friday.
Mazen Alotaibi
The boy, who is younger than 14, told police the man forced
him into a room at the Circus Circus hotel on the Las Vegas Strip and raped
him. Police arrested Alotaibi after being called to the hotel before 9:30 a.m.
on Dec. 31. "There was a kidnapping and sexual assault with
force," Las Vegas police Lt. Dan McGrath said. "The victim said he
was forced into the room and sexually assaulted. We have a strong case based on
the evidence."
…McGrath said Alotaibi produced a Saudi Arabian military
identification and said he was stationed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland
near San Antonio, Texas. U.S. federal authorities and Saudi military officials
were notified, the police lieutenant said.
Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland spokesman Brent Boller told
The Associated Press that records showed Alotaibi is currently stationed at
Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Boller said he could not
immediately verify if Alotaibi had been at Lackland, but noted that
international military students attend a Defense Language Institute English
Language Center on the base to improve their English-language skills.
Alotaibi's lawyer, Don Chairez of Newport Beach, California,
said Friday he had been in contact with U.S. military authorities at both air
force bases and with the Saudi government. He said Alotaibi had come to Las
Vegas for the New Year's celebration, and will plead not guilty. Of course the goats in Sin City were safe..............
Remembering Datuk Temenggong Kanang Langkau S.P., P.G.B
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Decorated Iban war hero Datuk Kanang Langkau collapsed while watching television at home in Sg Apong here Wednesday night. He was 68.Here is the story of his exploits:
In the annals of the Malaysian Military History no one person was more decorated than Kanang anak Langkau of the Ranger Corps.
He is one of the very few survivors ever conferred the "Seri Pahlawan
Gagah Perkasa" whilst still alive and a "Pingat Gagah Berani". No other
person has ever received two gallantry awards in the history of the
Malaysian Armed Forces. No other Corps can boast of a warrior of his
stature but the Ranger Corps. This happened when Lieutenant Colonel C.A. Tony Loone was the Commanding Officer of 8th Rangers.
On
a patrol on the morning of 2nd February 1980, a sub-unit commanded by
1029095 Sgt Salleh bin Ahmad from No.9 Platoon, C Company, 25th Royal
Malay Regiment made contact with the Enemy. One Enemy who was an “Orang
Asli” (Original People of Malaysia) who was believed to a Communist
Terrorist at Tanah Hitam., in Tanjung Rambutan, Chemor. The Royal Malay
Battalion at that time was commanded by Lt Col Mohamed bin Osman
(12304). The Battalion was conducting Operation “Gerakan Setia”. After
that incident No. 9 Platoon was one day attacked, one round from a
shotgun shattered the silence in the jungle, the shooter escaped. The
round from that shotgun was stopped by the head of 1023907 Pvt. Abu bin
Abd Rahman who had just completed his sentry duties and about to rest
inside his hammock. Death was instant. 8th
Rangers which at that time was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel C.A.
Loone (200104) was deployed. The sub-unit chosen to track and destroy
the Enemy was the UCIS Platoon of 8th Rangers. This follow up was
assisted by 25 Royal Malay. The operation orders were deivered by the
Brigade Commander, Ahmad bin Hj Kadir. They were deployed from Camp Syed
Putra, along the Tambun – Tanjung Rambutan road. The UCIS Commander was
2Lt Johnson anak Meling (3000491), his Platoon Sergeant was Sgt Kanang
ak Langkau. The rest of the members of the UCIS Platoon were : 1. 455669 Cpl Mohd Nasir bin Mohd Nordin 2. 931635 Cpl Omar bin Awang Tengah 3. 931890 Lcpl Seaday ak Meloh 4. 1011643 LCpl Rajagopal al Subramaniam 5. 931630 Rgr Kalang bin Batang 6. 932494 Rgr Mohe ak Singkie 7. 213611 Rgr Mohamad bin Che Will 8. 213614 Rgr Jamian bin Hj Lajis 9. 213573 Rgr Mohamad bin Tisman 10. 213613 Rgr Mustaffa Kamal bin Majid 11. 1011293 Rgr Zulhisham bin Shahrum 12. 1011336 Rgr Rosli bin Md Isa 13. 1011577 Rgr Kanagasan 14. 1012101 Rgr Abdullah bin Chik 15. 1012424 Rgr Muniandy al Gindaraju 16. 931899 LCpl Abang Mohd Salleh bin Abang Morshidi (Medic) 17. 212057 Rgr Mohd Arif bin Harun (Assault Pioneer) 18. 931531 LCpl Jonathan ak Aton (Assault Pioneer) 19. 932281 Rgr Meringai ak Ledang (Assault Pioneer) The others attached were from D Company of 8th Rangers : 1. 931569 LCpl Sutoh ak Minon 2. 1021661 Rgr Sakaria bin akop 3. 1025083 Rgr Omar bin Mahmud 4. 1025085 Rgr Ghazali bin Sudin 5. 1025093 Rgr Kathina Vellu al Sitamparam 6. 1025129 Rgr Valalam al Muniady 7. Rgr Sulaiman 8. Rgr Sharif 9. Rgr Idris. After
receiving the orders from the Brigade Commander 2Lt Johnson Mileng led
his men into the operational area. He broke up his platoon into 3 groups
to track down the Enemy. Sgt Kanang led one group, Cpl Omar led another
and he himself led one other group. The Platoon married up again after a
day as Sgt Kanang and his group reported coming across Enemy tracks.
They had come across an enemy Camp that could accommodate 10-15 men.
After a week of tracking, they found that the Enemy was trying to
dominate the area. They were required to report to the CO of 25 RMR, as
they were placed under his command. They were re -supplied after a week,
“Ops Pukat was launched by 8th Rangers after that re-supply, in the
Tanah Hitam area of Chemor. After they were re-supplied, Rgr Sulaiman
stepped on a booby trap, as he was removing a tree branch which lay in
his way. He was extricated to be treated at a hospital. Since
the insertion of the UCIS Platoon of 8th Rangers , 10 days had already
passed, with the finding of Enemy traces, but they still had not got
into grips with the Enemy. It was already the 13th February 1980. Sgt
Kanang did not at any time show or display that he was bored in leading
the patrols assisted by Cpl Omar, in fact he was eager and displaying
the indomitable fighting spirit of the Corps. On the morning of February
1980 as the Platoon climbed a hill, as it was descending, Sgt Kanang
came across an empty wrapping of “Maggi*” noodles. * Popular brand name
for instant nnodles. After
that they walked, patrolling for quite some time, they were tired and
weary. They stopped on a hill to cook for lunch. After lunch they
continued their patrolling, as usual Sgt Kanang being the expert tracker
took the lead. Sgt Kanang reached the foothill whilst the soldiers who
were behind him were still descending. He found himself on a very level
ground. Suddenly he spotted an Enemy sentry who was on duty. Realizing
that he was in the vicinity of an Enemy camp, he fired at the Enemy
yelling “Enemy ! To the right ! Enemy ! To the right !” The soldiers who
were behind rushed forward to form an extended line, to shake up into
an assault formation. They started bringing fire to the right as
indicated by Sgt Kanang. Even though heavy fire was brought to bear
against the Enemy, it was not very effective. The Enemy main force was
well away from the heavy fire, it was located lower on the left, whereas
they fired to the front from above. The
Enemy base was located and was assaulted by them, the Enemy by then had
fled leaving large quantities of their equipment and food. The food
left behind comprised of rice, sugar, cooking oil, pork, flour and
liquor. One of the Enemy was believed to be wounded as there were blood
trails in the direction they fled. The spent the night at that location,
in the Enemy camp. That
night Sgt Kanang and 2Lt Johnson discussed their plans on tracking the
Enemy the following day. They discussed the two possible directions the
Enemy might have taken when they escaped. They formulated their plans to
track down the Enemy along these two trails. The following morning the
Platoon broke up into 3 groups. One group to form a firm base and stay
put. Two more groups to conduct the tracking, one group under 2Lt
Johnson and one more group under Sgt Kanang. 2Lt Johnson was to lead his
group along the ridge whereas Sgt Kanang and his group was to track
further downhill. The in charge for the firm base to be guarded, with
the Enemy’s captured equipment and food supplies was left to Cpl Mohd
Nasir and his group. He was also required to wait for the Combat Tracker
Team that was on it’s way to participate in the tracking down of the
Enemy. After
trailing the Enemy for around 15 minutes, one soldier from Johnson’s
group stepped on a booby trap, which exploded, injuring Rgr Zakaria.
They started making a winching point to extricate Ranger Zakaria. At
around 1500 hours, a helicopter arrived to extricate Rgr Zakaria. They
spent the night again in the Enemy camp, before continuing the tracking
of the Enemy. On
the morning of the 16th February 1980 they left the Enemy camp to
continue hunting them down. During this tracking of the Enemy they were
assisted by the Combat Tracker Team, which was commanded by 23006 Sgt
Jamaludin bin Razali and assisted by 22448 Cpl Abd Rahim bin Yacob,
there were two Labradors (dogs) with them. Before moving Sgt Kanang told
Cpl Nasir that the previous night he had a vision that it would be bad
for Cpl Nasir to lead. He advised him to move at the rear or in the
center of the patrol. These are some of the beliefs of old soldiers. Sgt
Kanang believed in his visions very strongly. In his dream he saw
faeces being thrown at Cpl Nasir. He did not allow Nasir to be the
leading scout. As
required by Sgt Kanang, Cpl Nasir took up position in the center of the
of the patrol. Sgt Kanag on the 19th February 1980 in the morning
related another vision, this time to 2Lt Johnson, that he dreamt that
he, Sgt Kanang himself was bleeding in the stomach. Realizing that Sgt
Kanang had very strong beliefs in his dreams, 2Lt Johnson ordered him
not to lead the patrol. 2Lt Johnson tasked Cpl Omar to lead, with 2Lt
Johnson immediately behind him. They
went on tracking until they reached a foothill. The Enemy’s trail at
that point broke up into many different trails. Johson stopped them and
broke them into 4 groups. One group to guard their packs and unnecessary
equipment. 3 groups to continue following the now split trail. Cpl
Nasir stayed with Sgt Kanang’s group Sgt Kanang’s group was to track
uphill. At the foothill Cpl Nasir saw a very small and clear stream, in
it, he saw a footprint, in which the mud was still swirling. There, they
were ordered to go back to their firm base to have lunch, to continue
after lunch. Sgt Kanang looked depressed, anyway he ordered then to cook
the inner stem of the wild banana plant as a fresh vegetable for all.
He had foraged it along the trail. They
had barely partaken of their lunch, at 1300 hours, Sgt Kanang ordered
his men to move out. 2Lt Johnson who wanted his men to rest was seen
arguing with 2Lt Johnson. This argument was that 2Lt Johnson had not
given his order to move out. Sgt Kanang ordered Cpl Nasir to lead. 2Lt
Johnson was thinking, “What’s up ? He did not want Cpl Nasir to lead,
now he wants him to do so.” After tidying up Cpl Nasir stepped out
leading the platoon, following the now very clear trail of the Enemy.
Johnson signaled the rest of the Platoon to follow the leading group. After
moving a short distance Cpl Nasir felt very queasy in his stomach, he
had a very upset stomach. He had to really take a shit. He tried to
concentrate on something else so that the urge to take a dump went away.
He had already walked for half an hour. He had already descended from
one ridge, the Enemy trail broke, split into two different directions.
One to the left another to the right. He stopped to ask Sgt Kanang to
make a decision on which trail to follow. After examining the trail he
told Cpl Nasir to follow the trail on the right. Before
he could move one step forward he heard a cry from behind. The soldiers
behind him shouted, ”Nasir ! Stop! Booby Trap! He turned around and saw
that Sgt Kanang had raised his left arm indicating, stop. There was a
branch which was forked in front of Cpl Nasir. Anyway the urge to shit
was very strong. He went towards the tree to take cover and do his
business. As he squatted to place his pack he heard a shot from the
front, a bit to the left. He was struck down by the round which had
penetrated the far left side of his chest. He yelled out to Sgt Kanang,
“Sarge! I am hit”. He yelled while crawling towards Sgt Kanang. He
desperately wanted Sgt Kanang to cover and help him. Actually
they were inside the location of the enemy, as they were at the foot of
the hill. They only realised that they were inside the enemy's location
when they found a communictions cord from the enemy sentry's location.
This cord was running from the sentry's location to the enemy's main
force. This cord is normally attached to a small bush or empty cans
which make noise when pulled. This way the main force can be alerted by
the sentry when an enemy approaches. At
that moment Sergeant Kanang was approximately 8 meters from the enemy
sentry's location. Realising that, he launched the assault towards the
right by firing towards the right of the enemy along with his platoon.
After launching the attack to the right, it suddenly struck everyone
that the enemy's main force was on the left, below the slope of the
hill. Without losing his senses, he switched the direction of fire to
the left, at the same time changing the direction of the assault to the
left. They
ploughed into the enemy, a large force of the enemy managed to escape.
Whilst trying to rescue his wounded friends, Sergeant Kanang himself
was repeatedly shot, he took three rounds from the enemy into his body.
Sgt Kanang in a very calm voice told Cpl Nasir that he too was hit. His
voice was quivering in pain, when he told this to Cpl Nasir. Cpl Nasir
bit his lips took cover behind a tree and started firing at the Enemy.
He finished one magazine, as he was changing his magazine, his vision
failed him. He started yelling for the medic. After a little while he
heard his friends firing. LCpl Abang Salleh who was the medic crawled up
to him to give him aid. The moment the medic reached him, he had passed
out. The next time he awoke was on a bed in he General Hospital of
Ipoh. Even with that success, they were saddened by the loss of one of
their group who was killed and one more seriously wounded. After opening up on the Enemy, Sgt Kanang called 2Lt Johnson. Johnson and CplOmar
inched their way forward under Enemy fire. By the time they reached Sgt
Kanang the Enemy had fled. He went to Kanang and found that Kanang was
critically wounded. He was shot. Sgt Kanang told 2Lt Johnson to leave
him there and to pursue the Enemy who were already fleeing. He further
told 2Lt Johnson that he would not die. Johnson, at first wanted to do
so, seeing that Kanang was getting weaker he changed his mind on
pursuing the Enemy. Johnson ordered the medic to attend to Kanang, his
stomach was bandaged and he was given a shot of morphine. A
search was conducted in that area. no Enemy was found dead. There were
also no signs indicating that the Enemy had been wounded. It was found
that the Enemy was in 3 locations, mutually supporting one another, all
facing in the direction of the approaching Rangers. In front of their
location the booby traps were heavily laid. It is believed that the
Enemy was preparing to ambush the Rangers. All the Enemy’s plans were
foiled by the careful observation of the Rangers whilst on patrol. Had
they not been observant they would have greater casualties. The Platoon
suffered only 3 wounded. They were Sgt Kanang, Cpl Mohd Nasir and Rgr
Abang Salleh, the medic. Lcpl Jonathan from the assault Pioneers using
plastic explosives blew a winching point in the jungle to have the
wounded evacuated. A Nuri helicopter evacuated them late in the evening
to the Ipoh, General Hospital. The rest of the Platoon continued on the
operations until withdrawn a few days later. Lt
Col C.A. Loone who was the Commanding Officer of 8th Rangers nominated
Sgt Kanang anak Langkau for the “Seri Pahlwan Gagah Perkasa”. This was
for his involvement in Ops Pukat and for the firefight on the 19th
February 1980. The citation succeeded, thus Sgt Kanang became the second
living recipient of the coveted award. This award was gazetted on the
3rd June 1981. The award was bestowed to him by the King on the 10th
June 1981. Sgt
Kanang was born in Karangan Anok, Nanga Meluan, Kanowit on the 2nd
March 1945. He was an Iban, who grew up in the interior of Sarawak. He
grew up away from progress and modernity. Like all his friends in the
interior, educational opportunity was limited. He schooled until
Standard 3. Even though he had limited formal education, his knowledge
on rivers, jungles, mountains, valleys and the life there made him a
master of tracking. Very few could match him in his combat tracking
capabilities. It was only natural that a person who was embedded with
natural instincts of a warrior would choose the profession of arms. Sgt
Kanang started his Military career when he joined the British army as
an Iban tracker of the Sarawak Rangers with his service number 18195179
on the 21st April 1962, after an interview which he had attended in
March 1962. After that he was absorbed into 1st Battalion Malaysian
Rangers on the 1st June 1965. He received his basic training at Changi,
Singapore, trained by the Gurkhas. After which he attended training at
Jungle Warfare School in Ulu Tiram, Johore. Even before his training
ended he was sent to Brunei where there was the Brunei Revolt, followed
by Confrontation. The war against the Indonesians. He
was promoted to LCpl on the 6th August 1971 and to Corporal on the 17th
June 1977 in 1st Rangers. Promoted to Sergeant on the 1st January 1979
and appointed the UCIS Platoon Sergeant. On the 1st November 1981 he was
promoted to Staff Sergeant. He was promoted to Warrant Officer 2 on the
1st April 1983. Finally he was promoted to Warrant Office 1 on the 17th
February 1986. He retired a few months after that. He
retired on the 31st May 1986 after serving the nation valiantly, 3
years with the British and 21 years in the Rangers. He is married to
Helen Latai anak Ani, they have 6 children, two boys and four girls. He
is involved in agriculture and runs his own sundry shop in his village
in Skra Hilir, Simanggang, Sarawak. Source.
The
late Kanang (left), with 3rd Brigade commanding officer Brig Jen
Jeyabalan, showing his Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa certificate in this
filepix.
KUCHING: Decorated Iban war hero Datuk Kanang Langkau collapsed while watching television at home in Sg Apong here Wednesday night. He was 68.He
was rushed to the Sarawak General Hospital where he was pronounced
dead. Kanang had complained of chest pains while watching television.
Born
in Julau in 1945, Kanang served in the Royal Ranger Regiment and as
Regimental Sergeant Major of 8 Renjer (8th Rangers) of the Malaysian
Army. (He was never the Regimental Sergeant Majorof 8th Rangers, he got his promotion whilst on resettlement. He reported to 7th Rangers at Pakit Camp, when on his resettlement course in Simmangang, Sarawak, I was adjutant then.. He had nothing then, Major Razak Abdullah who was the SO2 A Ranger Corps
got TV3 to make a story about him. Seventh Rangers played a prominent
role in the shooting of that documentary. It was a spin, for the powers to be, to look good. There he was depicted as a Regimental Sergeant Major. No one would have known him if not for Major Razak Abdullah. Datuk Kanang was only acknowledged after that, by the rest of the country (civilians). He was bigger than life for the Rangers and a living legend in the Malaysian Armed Forces. Datuk Kanang's citation was written by the late Lt. Colonel (Rtd) Cyril Antonio (Tony) Loone . Rest in Peace Datuk Kanang Langkau, God bless you. - edit) He
was awarded the Panglima Gagah Berani and Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa
medals from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on June 3, 1981. His citation was
written by the late Kanang joined the service with the Sarawak Rangers,
then part of the British Army, as an Iban Tracker on April 21, 1962.He
was absorbed into the Malaysian Rangers when Malaysia was proclaimed on
Sept 16, 1963. Kanang retired as a First Warrant Officer after 21
years of service. Kanang, the last surviving recipient of the Sri
Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa received the prestigious Panglima Gemilang
Bintang Kenyalang last year from Head of State Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin. The award carries the title Datuk'. The Star Read all about his courageous exploits here...........
DAP to launch full version of 'Ubah Rocket Style' Gangnam style BN spoof sets delegates rollicking
An air of festivity surrounded the official launch of the DAP’s catchy multi-language 'Ubah-Rocket style' video at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night. Malaysiakini
Does Israel Have No Roots There in History? By Richard Elliott Friedman
On Sept. 24, the president of Iran informed reporters
that Israel has "no roots there in history" in the Middle East. Now a
lot of good jokes come to mind at the expense of this clueless man, but,
seriously folks, he has at least conveyed an important truth: he
recognizes that Israel's historical presence in that world since
antiquity matters -- matters enough to deny it. Now, the Bible pictures
an Israelite-Jewish population and government there starting in the
12th century B.C.E. and continuing until the end of the Bible's history
about 800 years later. But how do we know if this is true? As scholars,
we can't just say, "The Bible tells us so." We need to see evidence
that could be presented to any honest person, whether that person be
religious or not, Jewish or Christian or from some other religion or no
religion, or from Mars.
In the first place, the land is filled with Hebrew inscriptions, so I
begin with that. These are not just an occasional inscription on a
piece of pottery or carved in a wall. Nor should we even start with one
or two of the most famous archaeological finds. Rather, there are
thousands of inscriptions. They come from hundreds of excavated towns
and cities. They are in the Hebrew language. They include people's
names that bear forms of the name of their God: YHWH. This means names
like:
Hoshaiah, which means "YHWH Saved"
Ahijah, which means "YHWH is My Brother"
Shemariah, which means"YHWH Watched"
The inscriptions also refer to their kings. They include stamps and
seals from official documents. They come from tombs where that land's
people were buried. They name people who are mentioned in the Hebrew
Bible. They include wording that also appears in the Hebrew Bible.
They reflect a widespread community whose dominant language was Hebrew,
who didn't eat pork and who worshipped a God named YHWH.
I happened to be present at the time of the discovery of another
important inscription in Jerusalem. Right below the Church of Scotland
in Jerusalem, in a Jewish tomb from the seventh century B.C.E., was a
silver cylinder with the words inscribed in it: "May YHWH bless you and keep you. May YHWH make his face shine to you and give you peace." It is the words of the Priestly Blessing in the Hebrew Bible (Numbers
6:24-26). That's just one inscription. The distinguished scholar
Jeffrey Tigay of the University of Pennsylvania sums up:
"The names of more than 1,200 pre-exilic Israelites are known from
Hebrew inscriptions and foreign inscriptions referring to Israel." Of
these, 557 have names with YHWH as their divine element, 77 have names
with El.
As for those foreign inscriptions, texts from the neighboring lands
refer to the people, to their kings, to their government, to their
armies and to their cities. The basic fact: everybody knew that Israel
was there: the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Arameans,
the Moabites, the Persians. Pharaoh Merneptah (1213-1203 B.C.E.) refers
to the people of Israel in a stone stele. Pharaoh Shoshenk I (c.
945-924 B.C.E.) describes his campaign in which he refers to cities in
Israel (including Ayalon, Beth-Shan, Megiddo, Rehob and Taanach).
Assyrian King King Shalmaneser III names King "Ahab the Israelite" among
his opponents in his Kurkh monument and names and pictures King Jehu on
his Black Obelisk. Seven other Assyrian emperors also refer to Israel
and Judah and name kings who are also mentioned in the Bible.
The
Babylonian sources, too, refer to the Jews and their monarchy in the
years after the Babylonians replaced the Assyrian empire. And the record
continues when the Persians replace the Babylonians, as documented in
the Cylinder of Cyrus, the Persian emperor. Cyrus' decree in 538 B.C.E.,
let the exiled Jews return to their land; it was followed by an influx
of Jewish population. There was population growth from the reign of
Darius I to Artaxerxes I. The country that the Babylonians had conquered
was reestablished as a state of Judah (yehud medintha) within
the Persian umbrella. You want irony? Persia, now called Iran, the
country that re-established the Jews' country in biblical times, now has
a president who says that Israel has no roots there.
Also from that period come the Elephantine papyri, a collection of
documents that include letters from the Jewish community in Egypt in the
fifth century B.C.E. to the Jewish community back in Jerusalem. Closer to home, right across the Jordan River from Israel was Moab, in
what is now Jordan. In the ninth century B.C.E., its King Mesha erected
a stele referring to Israel and its King Omri. He also refers to the
royal House of David. An inscription erected by an Aramean (what is
today Syria) also refers to a king of the House of David. In all, these
ancient texts refer to 15 kings of Israel and Judah who are known from
the Bible, and all are referred to in the right periods.
Material culture (in other words: stuff) fills out this picture.
Thousands of people have now walked through the Siloam Tunnel under
Jerusalem. It is a major feat of engineering. It is a passage nearly
six football fields long underground. A tremendous project like this
and others that we shall see reflect a major organized society with a
government that could bring such an undertaking off. If it were done
today, the governor would be there for photo opportunities, and the
architect and builder would be honored. When it was done 2,700 years
ago, it took a substantial number of workers and tremendous cost.
Likewise, when my students joined in the City of David Project
archaeological excavations of Jerusalem under the archaeologist Yigal
Shiloh, they uncovered the now visible "stepped stone structure."
Whatever purpose it served -- defense, soil or water retention, a
platform for some other major structure -- it was a huge project. It
wasn't something that a couple of friends assembled. It required
community organization, planning, design, a large number of construction
workers and funding. The archaeologist John S. Holladay, Jr. thus speaks
of the "archaeologically discernible characteristics of a state" from
the 10th century B.C.E. on. These include a pattern of urban
settlements in a hierarchy of size: cities, then towns, then villages,
then hamlets.
They have primary seats of government (i.e., capital
cities): Jerusalem and Samaria. Then they have major cities as regional
centers: Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer and Lachish. They have centralized
bureaucracy. They have frontier defenses. They have standing armies.
They have economics based on tribute, taxes and tolls. They have a
writing system. Holladay lists all of these and more in showing how we
know that there was a populous society with a central government from
this early stage of the biblical period. Holladay published this in
1995. We can now add more: central planning of the architecture and
layout of towns, a distinctive alphabet, standard weights and measures.
And we can add that the Israelite sites lack pork bones. The archaeologist Elizabeth Bloch-Smith seconds the point, that the material culture is clearly Israelite starting from the Iron II period (950-600 B.C.E.) at the latest.
We can also see the changes in the Hebrew scripts on the inscriptions
developing through time, and we can actually date texts based on this.
(An eighth century letter aleph doesn't look the same as a seventh or sixth century aleph.)
The study of these scripts and the inscriptions is called epigraphy.
Many biblical scholars go through training in this field. The point is
that this doesn't happen overnight. It takes centuries for these
scripts to go through all these changes. So (1) we can date texts, and
(2) we know that the Hebrew of these inscriptions was the language of
the people of Israel and Judah, not just for a year or a decade or a
century, but for many centuries.
In parallel, we can trace the development of the Hebrew language as
found in the Bible and the other ancient texts. We didn't move from
Shakespearean English to Valley Girl English overnight. That takes
centuries. Likewise, the Hebrew of the Song of Miriam and the Song of
Deborah, which are the two oldest texts in the Bible, is different from
the Hebrew of the late book of Nehemiah. Hebrew existed as a language
that went through all the natural stages of development that we find in
any language that people continuously speak and write over very long
periods of time.
And then there is the literature itself. What we now know of who wrote
the Bible reflects, conservatively, that there were 75 to 100 authors
and editors of the Hebrew Bible, and quite possibly a lot more. The
literary study of the Bible that has blossomed in the last 40 years has
revealed the artistry in so many of these works. Such a huge quantity
of prose, poetry and law did not pop up overnight. Or in a year. Or in
a century. It had to take centuries and a thriving culture to compose.
Great literature (like a bacillus) can only develop in a culture. It
is not chance that Russia produced so many superior novels, or that the
British isles produced so much superior poetry. For ancient Israel to
have produced so many fine authors required a culture that welcomed and
fostered such literature over centuries. And the linguistic evidence
confirms this, and so does the epigraphic evidence, and so does the
archaeological evidence.
The point of this is how vast the array of the evidence is.
This is not
a vague hypothesis. It is not formulated by overestimating or
overinterpreting a single little find. It is not like an Indiana Jones
movie (though we love them), in which the archaeologist goes looking for
a single object. This is a civilization: between 400 and 500 cities
excavated, hundreds of years, thousands of items in writing, millions of
people. This evidence was not discovered by an individual or even by a
small group. It was assembled by hundreds of archaeologists, with tens
of thousands of workers, coming from many religions and many countries.
Some archaeologists hoped to confirm the Bible. Some seemed to take
pleasure in throwing the Bible into doubt. There have been frauds, and
there have been mistakes, aplenty, as in any other field. But the mass
of the evidence remains available to all. We can see and continually
refine a picture of ancient Israel.
We can (and do) have a million arguments about almost every aspect of
the Bible. But what we cannot deny is the existence of the world that
produced it. That fact is not true just because the Bible says so. It
is true because practically everything says so.
We don't all agree on matters relating to the present politics of Israel
and its neighbors. That's OK. It's even healthy. But let no one
repeat this nonsense about Israel not having its historical roots there.
One cannot understand the Jews or Israel if one displaces the first
1,000 years of their history.Huffington Post
Why Israel Needs the Bomb - It's the only country whose right to exist is routinely questioned, and its conventional military superiority in the region is being challenged
By Mark Helprin Sixty-five years after Germany's campaign to exterminate the Jews, of the many countries in the world Israel is the only one repeatedly subjected to calls for its extinction. Though Pakistan and India, like Israel and the Arabs, have suffered population exchange and territorial wars, neither questions the other's right to exist. So rare and extreme is such a position that one might think the countries of Europe, so many of which cooperated in hunting down their Jews, would do more to recognize its endemic presence in the Middle East.
They don't—their publics having largely accepted that, in regard to
the question of Palestine, Arabs were the victims and Jews the
victimizers and colonialists to boot. Even though, strangely for
colonialists, the Jews had no mother country and it was their armed
struggle that ejected Great Britain from the Levant. Conveniently
forgotten is that the Jews accepted partition and the Arabs did not;
that half the Palestinians who left in 1948 did so of their own
volition; that more Jews left and were expelled from Arab countries than
Arabs left and were expelled from Palestine; that Arabs were able to
remain in Israel whereas the Arab states are effectively Judenrein; that
Israel ceded the Sinai for a paper treaty, and Gaza in return for
nothing but rockets and bombs; that, amidst a sea of Islamic states, it
has accepted a Palestinian state while the Palestinians indignantly
refuse to recognize it as a Jewish state; and that it was ready to
compromise even on Jerusalem had Yasser Arafat been willing to take yes
for an answer.
And conveniently forgotten in
fallacious references to a cycle of violence is that—following from
their oft-stated call for the destruction of Israel— Hamas, Hezbollah
(which is more or less an Iranian expeditionary force), Iran itself, and
the Arab confrontation states are the parties that want to change the
status quo, by violence and by their own flamboyant admission. It exists, they assert that it has no right to exist, they act to
destroy it, and then they claim that they are resisting it. Last week,
the Iranian president traveled 1,000 miles from Tehran to stand on
Israel's border and threaten annihilation. One can only imagine the
hysteria—not only in Iran but in London and Paris—if Israel's prime
minister were to go to the Iranian border and do the same.
In many quarters, such startling asymmetricality in regard to the
question of Palestine, which is also the question of Israel, is made
acceptable by the conviction that as long as the Palestinian refugees
remain unassimilated by their brethren, and as long as their flag
doesn't fly from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, they are the underdog.
Of course, the underdog is not always right, and nor are the
Palestinians, backed by the power of the Arab states and Iran, exactly
the underdog.
The popular view of Israel as a "regional superpower" that at little
cost to itself rolls over its opponents has for decades been sustained
by Arab propaganda, Western anti-Semitism, and Israeli braggadocio. It
exempts those who subscribe to it from the burden of knowing the orders
of battle and the geography and history of the conflict, and—in regard
to Israel's ongoing casualties or in the event of its destruction—serves
as a preset moral salve.
But Israel has seldom gotten off
easily. In the 1948 War of Independence it had 30,000 casualties,
including 6,000 dead, which given its population was proportionally as
if today 2.6 million Americans were killed, more than all the deaths in
all the wars in our history. In the 1967 War, in just six days of battle
that created the legend of its invincibility, the proportional figure
is 118,000—20 times the number of Americans killed in Iraq and
Afghanistan since 2001. The numbers for the subsequent War of Attrition
are much the same, higher for the October War of 1973, and civilian and
military deaths continue even through relatively peaceful interludes.
In 1973, having overwhelmed the
Bar-Lev Line, crossed the Suez Canal, downed a significant portion of
the Israeli Air Force, and penetrated deep into the Sinai, an elated
Egyptian army found itself with virtually nothing between it and
Israel's heartland. The accepted narrative is that the Egyptians could
not conceive of going forward, were frightened, and had insufficient
supply. They could conceive fighting in Israel. They had fought there in
1948, and sat on the border for all but six years since. Having beaten
back the Israelis, they were anything but frightened, and their lines of
supply were adequate. But knowing that had they continued, their
concentrations of armor would have been vulnerable to tactical nuclear
weapons, that if Israel's existence hung in the balance so would Cairo's
and Alexandria's, and that the whole of Egypt could drown in the flood
of a breached Aswan Dam, they went no farther.
Partly as a result of the steady
development of Saudi air power in response to Iraq and Iran, Israel's
potential antagonists are closing the gap in numbers and quality, and
the Israeli Air Force does not offer the same margin of safety that once
it did. With the Arabs' approaching 1.3/1 advantage in first-line
aircraft, 2.9/1 in second-line aircraft, and an enormous 12/1 advantage
in mobile air defense, many new options open if Arab unity coalesces as
it did prior to the three major Arab- Israeli wars, in all of which
Israel's existence was at stake and the result unpredictable. If Turkey
is included, as it might be, Israel's prospects become seriously
darker.
Other than a direct nuclear strike,
what it most has to fear is that a combination of states will throw all
their aircraft against it at once while advancing a
surface-to-air-missile umbrella to threaten Israeli planes and provide
sanctuary for its own. Though the Israeli Air Force is qualitatively
superior and its imaginative responses cannot be counted out, the
steadily improving professionalism of the Arab air forces, their first
rate American and European equipment, their surface-to-air-missile
shield, and most importantly their mass, are potentially a mortal
threat. For if the Israeli Air Force is sufficiently degraded, Israel's
prospects on the ground will follow proportionately.
In light of the fact that the conventional balance can change and is
changing, one of the many purposes of Iran's drive for nuclear weapons
is not merely to wait for a lucky shot at Tel Aviv but to neutralize
Israel's nuclear deterrent so as to allow a series of conventional
battles to advance Israel's downfall incrementally.
The military strategy of Israel's
enemies is now to alter the conventional balance while either equipping
themselves with nuclear weapons or denying them to Israel, or both.
Their calls for equation of the two sides in a nuclear-free Middle East
leave out the lack of equation in aims. Israel cannot dream of
conquering its adversaries and replacing them with a Jewish state. But
from war to war its adversaries have made their intentions clear, and as
their mass and wealth are applied to their militaries over time,
Israel's last line of defense in a continual state of siege is the
nuclear arsenal devoted solely to preserving its existence.
Mr. Helprin, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, is the
author of, among other works, "Winter's Tale" (Harcourt), "A Soldier of
the Great War" (Harcourt) and, most recently, "Digital Barbarism"
(HarperCollins). WSJ
