The War Prayer by Mark Twain

The War Prayer by Mark Twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their faces alight with material dreams – visions of a stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! – then home from the war, bronzed heros, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation – "God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!"

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory.

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there, waiting.

With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal," Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside – which the startled minister did – and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said

"I come from the Throne – bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd and grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import – that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of – except he pause and think.

"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two – one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of His Who hearth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this – keep it in mind. If you beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

"You have heard your servant's prayer – the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it – that part which the pastor, and also you in your hearts, fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory – must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause)

"Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits."

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

Note: Twain wrote The War Prayer during the US war on the Philippines. It was submitted for publication, but on March 22, 1905, Harper's Bazaar rejected it as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine." Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Dan Beard, to whom he had read the story, "I don't think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth." Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Mark Twain could not publish "The War Prayer" elsewhere and it remained unpublished until 1923.

Small Town, Big Business

Thanks to LaDonna for writing this article.  She's a much better writer than I am. - Keith

By LaDonna Davis

     BADAKSHAN, Afghanistan-- Providing quality construction to the people of Afghanistan is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s mission. But, for some provincial towns where the roads are decrepit, security is always in question and local construction companies struggle to get steady work; maintaining quality can sometimes be an issue.

      Recently, in the small province of Badakshan, Afghanistan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sought to find a better solution to completing critical construction projects in support of the Afghan National Security Forces by hosting an Afghanistan Business Association conference for the owners of construction firms who live and work in Badakshan. The meeting was held in the capital city, Fayzabad in July.

      Fifty-two Afghans  representing 33 Afghanistan construction firms showed up. The firms were interviewed by representatives from the Afghanistan Engineer District-North contracting, quality assurance and office of council branches, respectively. The results - more than 20 construction firms were registered into the USACE Afghan First Contractor database and two Badakshan construction companies were awarded contracts in August, making them the first Badakshan construction companies to be awarded Corps contracts since the conference.

      “Everything USACE does is contract related,” said Robert Winne, AED-N deputy contracting chief. “This conference allowed us to talk facts about the contracting process versus talking around the issues of contracting. It also allowed us to identify a whole new pool of contractors that weren’t registered with USACE.”

      There are approximately 18 ANSF projects in Badakshan, all of which were at one point terminated due to the contractor defaulting. “After a contract is terminated we start the reprocurement process,” said Winne. Reprocurement is a process the Corps uses to re-award the remaining portion of construction on a project that is not complete due to termination. In the past, the firms that were being awarded contracts in Badakshan were all located in Kabul, this didn’t sit right for some of the people that live in Badakshan and eventually led to problems.

      After having a sit-down meeting with some of the government and locals of Badakshan, Corps leadership realized that many of the projects in the small province were having difficulties because the locals in the area felt left out. “We found that many of the locals were being hired as sub-contractors for USACE projects by Kabul construction companies, but weren’t getting hired as the primary contractor,” said Army Capt. Keith Alaniz from AED-N capacity development branch. “This made them feel angry at the Corps when the projects were terminated because they weren’t getting paid and the money was just going back to Kabul.”

      To rectify the situation, AED-N decided to host a conference where construction firms in Badakshan could come and learn about the Corps contracting process to include how to write a proposal and how to bid on construction projects.

      “Most of the projects in Badakshan are under one million dollars, which makes them perfect for a lot of these small companies just starting out or that don’t have all the experience to build some of of our bigger projects,” said Winne.
The conference also allowed owners of construction companies to network with other construction company owners and exchange ideas and business goals.



      After meeting with the Corps, many of the construction companies realized that they would have a greater chance of being awarded a contract if they pooled their resources and expertise together to create one joint venture company.

      “A lot of these companies have experience building small projects in the local area or working on certain aspects of a construction project, like the electrical or plumbing, but don’t necessarily have all the skills within their company to take on a single project ,” said Alaniz. “So after hearing what the Corps is looking for when we select contractors, many of these Badakshan companies decided to come together and build one company which increases their chances of winning a bid.”

      For three Badakshan contractors, creating a joint venture gave them the edge they needed to be awarded a $480,000 Afghan National Police Station Corps contract.

      PUL Engineering and Construction Joint Venture won the award for the uniform police district headquarters at Keranwa Manjan in August. PUL JV is comprised of New PAMIR Construction Co., Hasam Construction Road and Construction Materials Co. and Lal Khurasan Construction & Road Building Co.

      All three companies are based out of Badakshan. The second construction firm to be awarded a contract is Mah-e-May Construction Co., also based out of Badakshan. Mah-e-May  was awarded a $262,650 contract for the uniformed police district headquarters at Wakhan.
The success of the business conference didn’t just give the Badakshan people a chance to earn work with the Corps, it also helped to build community relations between the provincial people, their government and the Corps and helped strengthen the  partnership between the district and the province.

      “Meeting with the people in small towns and provinces and listening to their concerns or problems is really the key to building a successful project and partnership,” said Alaniz. “It’s important to maintain open communications with these provinces, especially as we draw down troops. We need to be able to depend on them for security and be able to count on the local government to help resolve disputes. “In Afghanistan they say “Hamkari,” it means partnership in Dari.”

      Badakshan is the first province where AED-N held the business conference, but in the future, the district hopes to grow the program so other construction firms in small towns with hard-to-reach USACE projects can be given an opportunity to bid and win Corps projects.
“This is really a business model for success, “said Winne. “The Badakshan people were very excited the Corps was there trying to promote existing projects already in their neighborhoods.”

      Alaniz agreed that when possible, allowing local construction companies to build in their own neighborhood for USACE sets a good example and can only serve to help the communities in the future. “If a project costs $700,000 to complete and we hire a local provincial construction firm, that’s money that stays in the province and can go towards goods and services for those people. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Independent Women

Afghan Women Break into Saturday, June 18, 2011

ISAF: Owning a business in a male-dominated industry can be difficult for a woman in any country, but add the degree of difficulty in a male-dominated society like Afghanistan, and it can be almost impossible -- but don’t tell that to the women of Kabal-based SAWEC. These women are engineers, own construction companies, wear hard hats – even over burqas– and literally wish to build a better Afghanistan through their group, the Society of Afghan Women in Engineering and Construction. SAWEC is still in its infancy, having been conceived of as support network for female construction and engineer company owners and aspiring students in January of this year. Two leaders from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and one Afghan business woman thought it would be a good way to encourage and support Afghan women in an industry where there wasn’t support, stated Elizabeth Chien, chief of operations and maintenance division of USACE in Kabul, who is one of the idea originators.

Pictured: A group of women discuss the goals of SAWEC during a meeting held on June16 in Kabul. The attendance of the SAWEC meetings has been as high as 75 women. These women either own construction and engineering companies or they are students of the trade. This is the first organization to provide support and encouragement to Afghan women in the construction industry.

From there, contacts were gathered and a meeting was held to see if women would be interested in such an organization. To be successful, it was deemed, it had to be Afghan-led, with USACE only providing mentoring and advice as requested. "There was some confusion and a level of excitement that we could pull women together with common interests," said Chien of the initial meeting. One thing was for sure, the business women and university engineering students were interested. Over the next six months, the women met monthly selecting a name, board members, goals and conducted lots of match-making and lesson sessions. "These women want to have a voice," said Army Maj. Erica Iverson, Chief, Synchronization and Initiatives Group (SIG)/ Capacity Building Team, who is a supporter of SAWEC. "They are very determined." The progress of the organization has been slow, but steady. There are many obstacles the women must overcome in order for their mission to be a success. Even finding a place to meet safely is a challenge in Afghanistan, but USACE has helped provide a secure place, explained Chien. "Right now their biggest challenge is to stick together. That is not how Afghan culture is set up. It is set up to be very close-knit within your own group and then the groups are extremely competitive," said Chien. "It’s hard to start an organization and keep people interested. If they want to use it to support, network or share with each other, they are going to have to work at it."
SAWEC has encountered these issues and has addressed them as they arise, inspiring the attendees. "I love SAWEC. It is giving Afghan women an opportunity to stand on their feet," said a woman construction business owner. "They must be brave and take it." The newly-formed group is also proving to be a learning experience for all the women. One newly graduated student, who has a construction company with 20 people, said she is building her experience as an owner by learning from other members and taking that knowledge back to her company. "The older women have a lot to learn from the students. They come in with energy and a new outlook on life because they have been raised in a different era," said Chien. "At the same time, the young women have a lot to learn from the older business women. They have been around a long time and have a lot of experience." SAWEC is still young, but it has already begun to provide the women with support to change the old way of thinking. "Afghan women work hard and are strong within their families," said the newly graduated businesswomen. "Women should think more like a man would, because we have the same capabilities that they have."
Construction Engineering and
Management
Afghan Women Gather in Male-
Dominated Industry, Gain Voice

Good Governance in Afghanistan (damn it feels good to be a Gangsta)

(names and places are left out of this blog post)
One of the keys to winning in Afghanistan is building local governance.  A government that can provide security and services for its people is a stable government.  There are some success stories when it comes to local governance.  One city in particular has a mayor it can be proud of.

My friend the mayor used to be a warlord.  Well, warlord really has a negative connotation, I prefer the term businessman.  I mean, he does have a formidable weapons arsenal but who doesn't these days.  He looks like Edward Norton's character from Fight Club.  Like a guy who could beat you with his cast and then go back and finish eating his bowl of rice... but I'm getting ahead of myself.  US politicians should take some notes from this mayor, he went from being on the High Value Target List to mayor in a year.  So there is hope still for Rep. Weiner.

This mayor is very progressive.  He has a goal to "green" his city by planting 10,000 trees.  A noble cause indeed.  Well, Mr. Mayor had some of his employees (henchmen) go down the main street and dig holes in front of all the shops.  He then went to all the shop keepers and said, "you put a tree in here by tomorrow or I will shut your shop down...oh by the way, my cousin is coming and he'll sell you a tree."  Sure enough by the next day the entire street had freshly planted trees.  A couple of years and that main street will look great.

One of the dangerous of all the money being poured into Afghanistan by the international community is rising inflation.  Mr. Mayor is very conscious of this, and so to protect the everyday people, he instituted fixed prices in all the local restaurants.  One day the mayor was eating in one of the local restaurants and was overcharged for some rice.  Not a man to take things lightly, Mr. Mayor went to the back of the restaurant and beat the owner with his cast.  (Mr. Mayor had previously broken his arm but I wouldn't be surprised if he just keeps the cast on because he likes it.)

I look forward to watching this man's political career.  He's a regular Willie Stark.  And in this country I think thats what's needed.

Wedding Season

Its wedding season here in Afghanistan, and I had the opportunity to crash an Afghan wedding.  Well I didn't actually crash it, I was invited.  If you thought weddings were a big deal in the states, you should see an Afghan wedding.  Weddings can run as much as $20,000.  Which is an awful lot when you consider the average annual salary is only $2,000.  The government is actually considering measures to cut down on these extravagant weddings. "Costly Afghan weddings under government scrutiny"

But in humble Badakhshan, the weddings are a little more tasteful.  One of our employees, Kanishka, recently got married.  I talked to him about it a few weeks before and he was very excited.  This would be the first time he would see his fiancee.  The weddings are typically week long events, and each event is exclusively male or female.  We were invited to eat at Kanishka's house on the final wedding day.  Kanishka and the men in his family were hosting visitors all day long.  I'm told that the mayor, the police chief, and even a few warlords stopped by.

We met his family and ate with his brothers and father.  Unfortunately we couldn't stay for the evenings events.  A famous singer from Kabul was going to perform, along with a band.  Actually, Kanishka's brother offered to bring the singer over early so we could hear him, but I didn't want to trouble them.
 

Although it was no mexican wedding, it was still alot of fun.  Congratulations Kanishka!  mey-borak boshein!

Welcome

کش آمدی and welcome to my blog.  I am writing this to give one soldiers account of the war in Afghanistan.  This is my third year long deployment but my first to Afghanistan.  This is a beautiful country, with a very interesting culture and people.  The people, in fact, are the most hospitible I have ever encountered.  They give so much for people who have so little.

I realize that what is printed in the news and the "war stories" that people tell when they return are very different from the day to day life here in Afghanistan. Like most people, Afghans only want a peaceful life, and the prospects of a better future for their children. 

I hope that this blog gives you all another perspective on Afghanistan, about its people and our mission. 

از بلوگ من کش آمدی.  من ینجا می نویسم بهترکای یک عسکر نظر از افغانستان بتم.  ینجا سوم فرستاده است، اما تنها اولا دفه از افغانستان است.  افغانستان جوی بسار مقبول است، با فرهنگ و مردم زاد جالب است.  در حقیقت، مردم افغانی دوستانتارین از کی من ملاقات کرده ام.  آنها بسیار دهند وخت کی کم کم دارند. 

 .می فهمم کی چی کی اخبار کتابی است و داستان کی مردم گفتند بازی وخت بسار مکتالف از زندگی هرروز است. 

آرزو دارم کی ین بلوگ با شما را میدهد یک نظر دیگر از زندگی افغانی، مردم افغانی، و ماموریت ما.