War Heroes and War Zeroes

Order of Star of Sinai

I hate war. I do not like the violence, the bloodshed and the cruel patriarchy of the concept of war. Yet, I do understand, however, that it is sometimes an inescapable sad necessity. A long time ago war was definitely more common, but paradoxically we did not have "army men",whose sole job was to go to war, in times of peace. 

All this has changed now, of course, and there are men who are, by trade, warriors.

Still, regardless of how I feel about such warrior creatures, I believe that  they should , like everybody else, do their job well and do their job honorably.

Since we are in the midst of a dilemma in Egypt nowadays,about whether to salute our men in uniform or drown them under heaps of criticism, I thought I would bring your attention to an interesting anecdote about the Order of the Sinai star, shown here in the picture on the left

The Order of The Sinai Star is the highest military decoration in Egypt, only a couple of dozen men have ever been awarded the medal (most of them after their death.)

Egypt, the land of wonders, tries its civilians in a military court--but its former President and Ex Commander-in-Chief? No Sireeee. He gets a fair trial with lawyers and expert witnesses and the works.

Well if he does not deserve to be put on military trial for corrupting Egyptian's lives for thirty year then maybe, just maybe, he should be tried at least for awarding HIMSELF the highest military decoration in Egypt. Yes, believe it or not, Mr. Mubarak awarded himself the Order of Star of Sinai in 1983 after the death of President Anwar Sadat.

I wonder... Can a simple medal transform a war zero into a war hero?

If you want to read more about Egypt under current military rule check out  When the Armed Reigned Supreme