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."
The attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, is a sign. For the first time, the glaring reality, that Pakistan is a failed state is sinking in. We are viewing a train-wreck, with everyone on board. Pakistan has very recently passed the tipping point. The stage is all set. All that is missing now is a religious revolution. Ahh yes, this will be the end of cricket for Pakistan. One thingās for sure: If thereās been a real loser in the War On Terror, itās Pakistan. The long suffering, faction-ridden country is in serious trouble. A hideous alignment of simultaneous problems is starting to break the structure of the country.
The situation in Pakistan has been developing in ways even dedicated professional pessimists would have tried to avoid thinking about. The āSharia for peaceā initiative (see Subhabrata Das' previous DJ article) has been variously described as a victory for the Taliban, and a defeat for Islamabad. In practice, itās likely to be a defeat for Pakistan as a whole.
Pakistanās real problem is having far too many factions and opposing forces inside a country which canāt afford the constant polarizations and mutual obstruction. Some people may have forgotten that Pakistan was at one stage on its way to becoming a modern nation, with a miniature version of Indiaās middle class, and some prosperity.
Currently, Pakistan is basket case territory, in terms of economic conditions. Since the original Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban, the nation has been going straight backwards. Itās difficult and dangerous to do business in a war zone, and that, in effect, is the problem. The massive splits in the society have made a bad situation a lot worse. Continued here....
pakistan hopefully for the better future