Only Fools and Horses Complete

I hate war, and all that goes with it – probably moreso than almost any other soldier I know. And I know a lot of them that hate war, too.
That said, terrorists don't hear the calls to the deeper things you mention – they only hear calls to hate and kill, maim and murder, and to blow up people like my two friends and fellow soldiers that got blown up in Kabul on September 8th.
WE, as civilized and educated folk, can be filled with all the respect, compassion, etc., in the world. There will always be those who will take advantage of that – exploit that as a weakness. They have attacked us numerous times prior to and since 9/11. It's precisely for that reason I and my brothers and sisters-in-arms stand our posts, and put ourselves in harm's way, so 9/11's may not happen again. Even that is wishful thinking.
No solution to this crisis is perfect, but we had to do SOMETHING. And that something is not living in a fantasy world where those who would kill us would all of a sudden throw out hundreds of years of hate and violent jihad against us, the 'infidels'. Yes, I wish it were so, but if wishes were horses, fools would ride …

When the Duke, the speaker of the poem, refers to "that spot/Of joy" on the cheek of his late wife's portrait, he is talking about the pink or red paint the artist used to make it seem that her face was touched with a flush of happiness.

When the Duke mentions "The bough of cherries some officious fool/Broke in the orchard for her," he is expressing his anger at his wife and at some man who snapped off a branch from a cherry tree and gave it to her as a gift. The Duke is obviously mad with jealousy. He hates it that he was not the only man who could make his wife happy. He hates it that she also expressed kindness and gratitude to other men.