This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than the enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will. My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit. My rifle is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy. - Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed.
Dreadnaught
Is this related to the recent accusation from the Pakistan army that several of its troops were killed by US fire at Gora Prai? And what, might I ask, were Pakistani troops doing in such close proximity to pro-Taliban fighters while the fighters themselves were engaging coalition forces — sending them tea and kofta?
If any of what the new political order in Pakistan says can be believed, then one must ask whether they have any idea what they are dealing with in the tribal areas. Methinks they are in big trouble. And by extension, so is Afghanistan and the rest of the region.