“The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants.” - Isoroku Yamamoto
This
statement was given by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in opposition of the planned
construction of the Yamato class battleships, as quoted in Scraps
of paper: the disarmament treaties between the world wars (1989) by Harlow
A. Hyde. In this statement, Yamamoto implies that even the most powerful
battleships can be sunk by a huge swarm of carrier planes. This remark also
proved prophetic as both Yamato and Musashi would be sunk by
overwhelming air attacks.
We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The
VFFDP, are inspired by this quote as, Mark Shields and Mattie Stepanek said
respectively:
There
is always strength in numbers. The more individuals or organizations that you
can rally to your cause, the better. - Mark Shields
[PHOTO
SOURCE: https://allauthor.com/quotes/115432/]
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Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and
collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. - Mattie Stepanek
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/mattie_stepanek_319300]
|
We believe that teamwork can be successful in achieving our goals, like the army of ants that overwhelmed the
fierce serpent that invaded its territory. Take this example of the Iranians uniting
to protest against their tyranny government.
Iran: Mass protests
call for leaders to resign
"Our enemy is
right here," demonstrators chanted as they took to the streets of Tehran
for the second day. The UK ambassador has denied taking part in the protests
and decried his arrest, saying it was illegal.
Protests took place across Iran on Sunday for
the second day in a row following revelations that the fatal crash of a
Ukrainian passenger jet was caused by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. Riot
police and soldiers were deployed in large numbers around the capital, Tehran,
especially to key sites like Vali-e Asr Square and university campuses.
About 3,000 people took part in protests at Azadi
Square in western Tehran, while hundreds more convened on university campuses.
Protesters called for the resignation of many members of Iran's ruling elite.
It appeared that much of the nationalist sentiment
that the government had hoped to capitalize on following the
assassination of General Qassem Soleimani by US forces in Iraq
has begun to evaporate, particularly as the Revolutionary Guards did not
admit their role in the airplane tragedy until Canada, the US and the UK
announced they had evidence the jet was downed by a missile.
Read more: Opinion:
We need transparency from Tehran
"They are lying that our enemy is
America; our enemy is right here," protesters chanted outside a university in
Tehran.
On Saturday, a group of protesters were hit with
tear gas by the police after saying "death to the dictator," referring
to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran: Tensions must de-escalate
The aircraft was shot down on Wednesday, hours
after Iran launched a missile
attack on two US air bases in Iraq.
Iran also indicated on Sunday that a de-escalation
of tensions between Iran and the US could be the only way forward.
"We agreed... that the only solution to these
crises is de-escalation from everyone and dialogue," said Emir Sheikh
Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar, after diplomatic talks with Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday.
Read more: US and
Iran: Decades of enmity
On Twitter, US President Donald Trump called on
Iranian security services not to react violently to protests, referencing the
hundreds of demonstrators who died in anti-government actions in the fall.
Later he tweeted that he "couldn't care
less" if Iran agrees to negotiate with the US, but also urged Iran:
"don't kill your protesters."
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper told
media minutes before the president's tweet that Trump was still keen to hold
negotiations.
"We're willing to sit down and
discuss without precondition a new way forward, a series of steps by which Iran
becomes a more normal country," he told US broadcaster CBS.
UK ambassador denies protest
participation
All 176 passengers and crew lost their
lives after Ukrainian
Airlines flight 752 was shot down shortly after takeoff.
Eighty-two people on board were Iranian. Initially, the government had
claimed that a technical fault had caused the crash, until it emerged that it
had been shot down after it flew close to a sensitive military site, where personnel
say they mistook it for a US weapon. Just four hours earlier, Iran had launched
airstrikes
against US targets in Iraq.
At the same time, the hard-line Basij
militia staged its own demonstration outside the UK Embassy in Tehran. The
ambassador has been summoned by the Iranian Foreign Ministry for allegedly
taking part in an anti-government demonstration on Saturday.
Ambassador Rob Macaire has denied taking
part in the protest, saying he was told the event would be a vigil for the
victims of the plane crash. He said he left after five minutes, but he was
later arrested and then released.
"Arresting diplomats is of
course, illegal, in all countries," he wrote on Twitter.
Germany's Foreign Office has also
condemned the arrest, calling it "a completely unacceptable violation of
international law. We strongly condemn this action."
OTHER LINKS:
Iran Sentenced Us to Death. Here’s How Iranians
Really View the Regime.
Maryam Rostampour / Marziyeh Amirizaeh / January
11, 2020
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