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Monday, September 1, 2025

Some Dialog From We Who Stand On Guard: Episode 11 - Published on June 26, 2025

Here's a section of the dialog that occurs during the interception/interrogation/debriefing scene when Stanton finds himself in Jordanese custody after exfiltrating from Syria with his ally, Sahib.


The quotation of the dialog from the story starts here:



"You know that all of us. Soldiers I mean. We have a very strict code," Stanton looked at her sternly.


She nodded, sniffling slightly as she fought tears.


"Its like our honour. We're damned, all of us, but damned be the one who purposefully kills a civilian," Stanton explained to Linda, who again nodded.


"I know," she again fought tears.


"What separates us as soldiers from our enemies if we commit their same attrocities? There's being damned for what our job entails, and then there's being damned for killing civilians and non-combatants. In a court, or outside of it, that's going to be answered for," Stanton said to her unblinkingly.


"Dina's been fighting that one since you two left. Sandwiched between the hardliners and the softliners. Watching her people slowly creep towards becoming exactly what destroyed them on that dark October 7th morning," Linda said to Stanton.


"You ever read any Nietzsche?" asked Stanton of Linda.


"I was thinking the very same thing. So was Dina. In fact, on the night of the second massacre, she said to me: He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes long into you," Linda recalled that night.


"Who's going to save Tel Aviv, if nobody is going to save the Gazans? What the hell are we doing here to protect Tel Aviv, when they're busy murdering civilians and becoming exactly the monsters that took theirs?" Stanton responded harshly.


"I..." Linda shook her head, unable to find words to respond given both the pressure of the surveillance monitoring them and the intensity of feelings she had given Donahue.


"This situation is very, very dangerous for everyone, and they're making it much, much worse. Right now, the shoot first policy and shoot civilians policy has disgraced the honour of soldiers everywhere, and turned the leadership into the same kind of monsters they claim of their opponents: HAMAS. The Gazans are caught between two warring gangs of thugs now and are being forced to pick sides in the most horrible way possible, because the IDF soldiers will not protect Gazans from HAMAS, nor will HAMAS protect Gazans from the IDF. High tech weaponry is rapidly being deployed throughout the Middle East, and this situation is escalating. When is someone in their right mind going to realize that both sides need protecting, and both sides have to come to their senses. I can tell you personally that I'll refuse every operation I'm given here until I see something that's protecing those civilians from monsters like that. Those who murdered Israeli women and children on that fateful October 7th morning, and those who murdered Gazan civilians, including pregnant women over the course of a growing number of massacres allegedly committed by IDF soldiers, and supported by a growing coalition of people approving of such tactics, before expanding into Gaza. Dina and I risked our lives protecting the two-state solution during the era of the Oslo Accords. They ripped that all down, and now the situation is more and more creating circumstances that are leading to the complete erasure of the Gazan state and people. When are our elected officials going to find the courage to recognize the statehood of Gaza, as they did Israel? How did we get from the Oslo Accords to here?" Stanton's voice became more and more willful as he spoke.


"When we have the courage to support those who do, and when this has become something that is about far removed the symbol itself, and closer to what those symbols and values actually represent," Linda replied.


"Well said, for a Yankee," Stanton nodded at her, giving her an ever so flight smile.


"Well, not bad for a Canuck," Linda replied, momentarily holding herself back from laughing about one of Donahue's remarks about Canadians, a tear beading up in the midst of her eyelashes and falling into her lap.


The door suddenly buzzed, and the two guards and Shahem filed into the room. Shahem walked over to Linda, and whispered in her ear.


"Can I speak to you outside in the hall for a moment?" he asked her.


"I'm going to attend to something else for a moment," Linda said to Stanton, who nodded affirmatively for her.


"Excuse us please," Shahem turned to Stanton, with a renewed respect for the man.


Stanton nodded affirmatively without saying anything or giving him eye contact.


They left Stanton in the interrogation room by himself, the door closing as the guards took up either side of the door in the hall.


Linda and Shahem walked down the hall a bit for some privacy.


"It seems that there has been a drastic change in the situation. An intervention if you will," Shahem explained to Linda.


"How so? Are they going to trial?" asked Linda, still grieving over her mentor's death.


"No. They're free to go. All of you. It seems that his Majesty the Aga Khan was keeping a very close eye on this situation. Close enough that upon hearing your sentiments with regard to the situation and risk facing the Middle East, he himself gave the order to release the three detained into your custody. Perhaps proof that there is some hope for us in the world, and that peace may find us as it did during the times of the Oslo Accords," Shahem explained to Linda, who was quickly losing the battle against her tears.


"I apologize. Its hard to experience such great loss and such great joy simultaneously," Linda responded to Shahem gratefully.


"Then please, take that hope and help the people of Gaza and Israel in their moment of crisis recognize both the hardship of such great loss and the great joy of a future in peace," Shahem said to her, gesturing back towards the door.


And that ends the quotation of dialog from We Who Stand On Guard: Episode 11.


Lets hope that the world comes together for a solution.

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