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."
MANILA, Philippines—Sulu’s royal army stays in Sabah. And it stays there until Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III decrees
that the army, led by his brother, pull out of the eastern Malaysian
state.So said Jamalul’s wife, Princess Fatima Cecilia Kiram on Friday. The royal family also now wants to elevate the Sultanate of
Sulu’s claim to Sabah to the United Nations and to the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) to finally settle the dispute, Fatima said at a
press conference at the Blue Mosque in Maharlika Village in Taguig City.
For the first time since the standoff in Lahad Datu, Sabah,
Sulu’s royal family led by Jamalul himself, his wife, and younger
brother, Sultan Esmail, made a public appearance with a handful of
followers to talk about the standoff and the Sabah claim as Malaysia’s
Friday deadline for the sultan’s followers to leave Sabah expired. While there was nothing royal at all in the rundown room with
worn-out tables where the press conference was held, Jamalul Kiram and
his family pressed for the ownership of Sabah by what their followers
called “relying on a historical truth.”
Looking old and frail, Jamalul said he had a difficult time
talking and thus designated his wife, who was seated to his left, to be
his spokesperson. Fatima said her husband’s “decree for his brother and his Rayak
(royal decree) to go to Sabah and stay put peacefully” was a product of a
consultation among his council, his army, and the family members.
Muslim brotherhood She said she was confident that there would be no bloodshed in
Lahad Datu, where over 300 members of the Royal Security Forces of the
Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo led by the sultan’s brother, Rajah
Mudah Agbimuddin Kiram, were holed up. “I am depending on our brotherhood… We are Muslim. They are
Muslim. It is far beyond my imagination that there will be trouble,”
Fatima said. The royal family’s supporters also called for “restraint on both sides to deescalate the tension.”The royal family, Fatima said, wants to negotiate and have a dialogue with Malaysia about Sabah.Fatima confirmed reports that the royal
family was hurt by the seeming dismissive attitude of President Aquino
toward the Sabah claim when he said that it was a “dormant issue.”
Wrong advice Fatima said Mr. Aquino could have been
given the wrong advice, the reason that the family welcomed the
President’s announcement of a Cabinet study of the Sabah claim. “We have the highest respect for the
President and we honor his words… On behalf of the Sultanate of Sulu, we
wish to thank President Aquino for looking into the problem… our claim
of our ancestral domain, Sabah,” Fatima said, adding that the family
wants to assist the government in doing the study. “We want to help the government by sharing
what (documents) we have so that they can study and support this claim
for a win-win solution between our brother Muslims in Malaysia and the
Sultanate of Sulu,” Fatima said.
She confirmed that Malacañang had sent emissaries to talk to their family about the presence of their followers in Sabah. Fatima said those dispatched by the Palace
to talk to them were government peace panel chair Miriam Coronel-Ferrer,
National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia, Presidential Adviser on
Political Affairs Ronald Llamas, ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, and two
others. But the royal family’s supporters are less convivial toward the President.
Unsolicited advice Reading from a statement, Abdurahman Amin,
lead convenor of the Kiram family’s consultation with their followers,
said the Muslim community all over the country was “deeply concerned and
disturbed, particularly (with) the present dispensation’s innuendos…
too proud of its so-called good governance policy but… remained
complacent to the sentiments of the constituency as if they are not part
of the Philippines.”
Amin lamented that President Aquino seemed to take the side of Malaysia. “We have (an) unsolicited advice for them
to look into the historical truth because it has irrefutable evidence in
black and white that has a better chance of winning in the
International Court of Justice or the United Nations organizations
system, including its Security Council,” Amin said. Fatima said the family would still have to
consult with their followers regarding their next move. Fatima only
smiled when asked when the family might reach a decision with the
deadline given by Malaysia.
