Rough Men

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." George Orwell (1903 - 1950)
Being a South African and an ex infantryman one relates to this quote a lot, our media is filled with reports from here and afar about all sorts of mayhem and in the meantime the politicians sleep, secure in the knowlege that a bunch of rough men are guarding them, not so the average joe behind his burglar proofed house or even worse the woman in her shack... methinks it is time for some rough men to wake up the politicians in their own beds.
Continuing the thread but in a more world wide vein makes me think of all the forces fighting Islamic terrorism, yes I am calling it by name, until the followers of Islam stand up and fight this blight on their name it will continue to exist. Gemany banned and actively prosecute any Nazism but hey it's ok to teach a 6 year old that bombing infidels or Israelis is ok if you are a muslim... Reminds me of;
"We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours."
Golda Meir (1898 - 1978), Golda Meir to Anwar Saddat just before the peace talks.
I believe the people of this earth that have become victims of this most abhorrent terror feel exactly the same as the above quote... We do not want to but will if needs be take the fight to the enemy as the USA has done. Y'all out there that think this is about oil should read the Good Book, ah! but you don't do you? That is irrellevant in todays new age world... The devil makes those blind he has decieved.
"As close as we are today, tomorrow when we come back from that battlefield, we will be as close as two men can possibly be, sharing a bond that can only be forged in the face of imminent disfigurement. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."
Jeff Melvoin, Northern Exposure, Kaddish for Uncle Manny, 1993
Comrades in arms... I feel for the troops in Iraq and Afganistan... I was a lucky one, never ever heard a bullet crack in anger, never ever had to kill an enemy but I saw things no young man should see. The experience made me realise how one has to depend on one another, later on as a section leader I learned that to lead was a responsibility not a right, having one of your troops silently lift the heavy radio off your pack and take it himself without being ordered is a humbling experience but you know that he would follow you to the gates of hell and back if needed. Thanks Guys!
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873)
Ok shoot me for that one... but I agree 100% I Hope and pray that the resolve of the American people will stand fast and elect someone that has proven his ability over the last four years...
This was originally posted just before the 2004 elections in the USA. I still feel te same way today, 3 years later.