Kick out the motherfuckers, Jimmae
..and exactly how 'un powerful' are these enemies? They have millions more numbers, and if we talk about 'power' as all you do, numbers and 'majorities' will always have the upper hand.
'Those who cannot protect their freedom do not deserve it'
By Yair Ettinger
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArtVty.jhtml?sw=Yair&itemNo=743197
Shortly before midnight, the soldiers of the Golani Brigade’s Regiment 13, Company A gathered a few meters from the Lebanese border. In a few minutes, they were due to cross the border and join the battle, like their comrades in Regiment 51, who fought in Bint Jbail yesterday and sustained fatalities.
‘It’s our turn now,’ said Captain Ori Lavie. ‘It’s our turn to protect the border. And we’ll carry out any mission we need to, against any force, in the best way possible. If we don’t, we have no right to exist.’
Excited and armed from head to toe, the young soldiers listened, hanging onto every word he uttered.
‘We will not lose this war,’ said Lavie. ‘We did not start it, but it’s our duty to protect the Jewish nation and see to it that the residents of Metula and Haifa can live in peace. If we don’t do it, no one will. We waited 2,000 years for our own state, and we won’t fold because a group of terrorists think that they can scare us.’
‘Someone who cannot protect his freedom does not deserve it,’ he continued. ‘When missiles and rockets land on all the northern cities and reach Haifa, and when two of our soldiers have been kidnapped and ten have been killed and dozens have been wounded ‘ this is no time to talk, it’s time to fight. From the moment we cross the border, you must be super alert, super sharp. We are threatened from every side. Each of you is responsible for his comrades.’
The soldiers have spent most of the day attending briefings on tactics and the rules of engagement, cleaning weapons, tightening bulletproof vests, adjusting straps, checking radios and bandages. Finally, they smeared camouflage paint on each other’s faces.
These activities helped blunt their emotions. But a moment before entering Lebanon, they must boost their fighting spirit. Before the commander’s briefing, military rabbis distributed volumes of Psalms and offered a prayer before battle.
‘Everyone here must be alert and do everything possible to spot the terrorist first,’ Lavie told them. ‘We must be the ones to open fire first, we must surprise them, not the other way around. Everyone is responsible for his own life, the life of his comrade and all our lives. We’re all in the same boat.’
The soldiers joined the army only eight months ago. Most of them are 19 years old, and under the war paint, they still look like boys. Their combat experience consists of brief activity in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the month. Some of them admit that they are afraid. But most say that they have dreamed about fighting in Lebanon since they joined the army.
‘I’ve been in the army for six years, and have never had as much confidence as I have in this company,’ said Lavie. ‘You’ve proved yourselves more than once, not only in fighting. We did well in training, we did well in Gaza, we’ll do well now. There is no better company than this one. You are lions. No one will kill terrorists like this company.’
After the talk, the soldiers had time for another quick call home and another text message on their cell phone. Some did not tell their parents where they were.
Company medic Yossi Werker admitted that he is a little afraid. ‘I think of my friend who was killed two weeks ago in Gaza and of my responsibility to look after the wounded. There is an 80 percent chance that there will be casualties. I have faith in the platoon medics. I also want to have time to say the prayer before going into battle myself. Not many are religious in Golani, but most of the guys believe,’ he said.
Werker activated his cell phone to read a message from his girlfriend of two months, Mor. ‘Sweetie, look after yourself, you’re the most adorable man in the world,’ she wrote. But he was disappointed. Earlier in the day, he told her for the first time that he loved her. ‘She’s the best girl I’ve ever met in my life,’ he said. ‘If you print that, it will help the war effort.’
