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."
This
week marks 60 years since Egypt’s self-proclaimed Free Officers
overthrew the constitutional monarchy of King Farouk — and it’s the
first anniversary when one can imagine the demise of the military
despotism that for so long has wounded the country. Sadly, its most
likely replacement will bring on an even worse rule. The era of monarchy had plenty of faults, from iniquitous levels of
inequality to violent movements (foremost among them, the Muslim
Brotherhood), but it was an era of modernization, of a growing economy,
and of increasing influence in the world. Industrialization had begun,
women threw off their face coverings, and Egyptian soft power had a wide
impact in Arabic-speaking countries. Tarek Osman recalls this time in
his excellent Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to Mubarakas “liberal, glamorous, cosmopolitan.”
The dreary rule of generals and colonels began on July 23, 1952, led
by the ambitious Gamal Abdul Nasser. The grandiose Anwar Sadat followed
him in 1970, and finally the pompous Hosni Mubarak assumed control when
Sadat was assassinated in 1981. Nasser, much the worst of the trio,
danced to the demons of anti-capitalist resentment and anti-imperialist
frustration; his rule saw crippling confiscation of private property and
inane foreign adventures (with Syria, against Israel, in Yemen),
incurring costs the country still pays.
The regime specialized in deception. The junta donned mufti even as
the military’s reach extended over the economy, the security services,
the legislature, and the judiciary. Unity with Syria masked bitter
hostility. Ostentatious rivalry with Islamists hid a squalid competition
over spoils. Peace with Israel disguised continued warfare through
other means.
During the long, painful, and regressive reign of the army boots,
Egypt moved backward according to every meaningful index, from standard
of living to diplomatic clout, even as the population quadrupled
from 20 to 83 million and Islamist ideology flourished. Egypt and South
Korea, Osman notes, were on a socioeconomic par in 1952; now, Egypt has
fallen far behind. He writes that “society did not progress” under the
soldiers’ rule but, to the contrary, “on many fronts, it actually
regressed.” He discerns since 1952 “an overarching feeling of an
irreparable sense of damage, a national defeat.” From football games to
poetry, one senses that defeatism.
On approaching his 30th year in power, Pharaoh Mubarak decided, in a
paroxysm of hubris, to sideline his military colleagues. He aspired to
steal yet more money, even if that meant denying the officers their
share, and (under pressure from his wife) he sought to have, not another
military officer but his son, the banker Gamal, succeed him as president.
The outraged general officers bided their time. In early 2011, when
brave, secular, and modern young people in Tahrir Square announced their
impatience with tyranny, the junta exploited them to push Mubarak from
office. Liberals thought they had won, but they served merely as a tool
and a pretext for the military to be rid of its despised master. Having
served their purpose, liberals were shunted aside as officers and
Islamists competed for loot.
Which brings us to the present: The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) still runs the country,
and the Muslim Brotherhood wants to push it aside. Which of these
unworthy, autocratic forces will win? The SCAF has, in my view, an 80
percent chance of holding power, meaning that Islamists will prevail
only if they display enough talent. The SCAF cleverly sidelined the
Muslim Brotherhood’s most charismatic and capable leader, Khairat
al-Shater, on dubious technical grounds (his imprisonment by the Mubarak
regime). That left the much less competent Mohammed Morsi as the
Brotherhood’s standard-bearer and the country’s new president. His first
few weeks have shown him to be a mumbler and bumbler with no aptitude
for waging political battle even against the incompetents who staff the
SCAF.
As Egyptians endure the 60th anniversary of the military’s power
grab, they have little to look forward to. If more July 23 celebrations
likely await them, at least they are not suffering through the first
anniversary of Islamist rule. Better domination by greedy soldiers than
by Islamist ideologues.
But Egyptians and their supporters abroad can aspire to better. The
liberals who rallied in Tahrir Square remain the country’s only hope and
the West’s only allies; they deserve support. However remote they are
from the corridors of power, their rise uniquely offers an antidote to
60 years of tyranny and decline.
