If That Next War Also Cannot Be Avoided

if the next war simply cannot be avoided

then, indeed it has been well marketed and sold

if the people will not accept a war

then it must have been wisely circumvented

if the allies do not support a war

then its packaging must be slicker for those in the homeland

if the enemy continues its hostile non-aggression

preemptive defensive strikes may just set things right

if the causes of a war do not really effect the peoples lives

doctored versions of the truth might just suffice

if the young rush like violent lemmings for a chance to kill and die

they are deemed valiant, patriotic and wise before their time

if the youth should question decisions that risk their very lives

they are but callow and foolish cowards, lacking in maturity

if the war is conducted from the air and enemies die in these video games

the people will not escape crude violence in their very homes

if the country is in a time of only sluggish growth

history shows that wars breathe new life into business and commerce

if the government faces vexing issues on the domestic front

ginning up external enemies might just freeze the opposition for a while

if a people swallow all their news spun into sound bites mouthed cleverly by spin doctors

they can be spared the horror of uncertainty and the even worse pain of thinking

if a war can be packaged slickly by smooth spokesmen in the homeland

those in charge can conduct a clean and corporate-like campaign

if a war comes to pass and security becomes an issue

the people can be lied to and spied upon in secret without a second thought

if the war machine demands it

resources from all places sacred and profane must be laid down before it

if the soldiers come home crippled and unable to adjust

they may be warehoused and hidden until they are forgotten

if we attack a place a third of our people cannot find upon a map

then have we, just perhaps, grown lazy, careless, stupid and quite foolish

if God directs us to spend staggering sums against some faceless enemy

it becomes easier to stand by while millions die quietly of neglected diseases

if a war requires well-planned military as well as marketing campaigns

certainly any given opponent can be demonized as a group of child-eating heathens

if those who kill from far above by pushing buttons are hailed as heroes

maybe we should ask - To what end our sanity has been forsaken?

if a suicidal enemy strikes without an army at quietly sleeping people

perhaps it's time to actually look for the source of this evil

if events on the ground do not follow the script we have set have set so boldly forth

we can continue with our own parts and the audience may not know, for a while

if the press should immorally dwell upon the killing, maiming and destruction

we can fabricate our own dispatches and pay to have them printed

if it is said that a war can be paid for with the resources of the conquered land

it is easy to ignore all the other enemies who possess nothing that we need

if we can make up a policy to hide the dead and obscure the grisly details

it will make it easier to call for sharp increases to already unimaginable defense funding

if we frame the debate as strong heroes against backsliding cowards

domestic opposition will be reduced to the stuttering of the marginalized

if we continuously label a universally deplored invasion as a great liberation

all of our propaganda will echo with freedom’s brave, true ring

if we consistently forge a non-existent link between our goals and terrorism

the polls will indicate their rising acceptance of our works of political fiction

if our campaign is ill-conceived, poorly-executed and bogs us down in civil war

to surrender would betray the honor of all of those we have foolishly sacrificed so far...

As If We Had No Choice

As if we cannot kill the trees and rend the fields quite fast enough

          let us rain bombs down upon them and kill all the animals, too

As if some families do not find life hard enough already

          let us shoot their men and rape the women even as their children watch

As if the living was easy in some land of mythic plenty existing only in our minds

          let us take away the bread winners and leave their families in need

As if there were enough of everything and resources knew no limits

          let us build expensive killing machines which we will then simply destroy

As if the people's God were beyond any reproach

          let us show them by our acts how little He really cares

As if our collective morality were so powerful and clear

          let us ask them to kill without emotion and then go on home to their families

As if there were a purpose and meaning to our acts

          let the victors twist their wanton campaigns into a glorious history

As if the doctors and nurses had cured and healed all the sick here at home

          let us send them far away to mend those maimed in pointless slaughter

As if we could rationalize such things to ourselves

          let us frame an answer to the children who cry for their missing fathers

As if the best training consists of thoroughly brainwashing

          let us call brave those who bomb villages in safety from 30000' above

As if there could be a justification for our brutal actions

          let us hide truth from our people and disinform both enemy and ally alike

As if there were no hungry children roaming city streets

          let us grant fat military contracts instead of building schools

As if all of our men were far too healthy and strong

          let us send many home missing legs, hands or eyes

As if we were a peaceful people who could succor and would cure

          let veterans be turned out as drug addicts or violent alcoholics

As if our society already cares for all its lost and its downtrodden

          let us orphan their children and give their mothers a token flag

As if we had a surplus of food and no aged widows going hungry

          let us burn the fields and destroy the farms

As if the songbirds were not enough to fill the air

          let us drown them out with the awful shriek of artillery shells

As if the flowers did not add enough color to the valleys of our homeland

          let us dye them red from the shrapnel, the bullets and the bombs

 As if  we no longer had minds of our own

          let us all think as one the thoughts provided by our great leaders

As if every man, woman and child of our enemy were Satan in the flesh

          let us dehumanize them that we may rejoice in their terrible suffering

As if the air were far too clean and too clear

          let us fill it with the smoke and the ghastly stench of destruction

As if the bridges, roads and factories were cheap and easily replaced

          let us burn them and bomb them and build them once again

As if reality could be found in our repeated rationalizations

          let us rise again to reduce our lands once more to ashes

As if our boys weren't born with quite enough potential anger

          let us steep them in hatred and praise them for their violence

As if they needed any real reason or excuse to go off to the killing

          let the media extol the virtues of any and all of our wars

As if all of our leaders would go if they only could

          let us speak of the honor in dying of horrible wounds in far off lands

As if we had not used them callously in pursuit of our unspoken greedy aims

          let us thank them for their service but deny them their tiny disability pensions

As if they are only helping us to act in self defense

          let our greatest scientists create new implements of death and destruction

As if we believe that we would never use them

          let us hold biological and chemical weapons and many neutron bombs

As if our disputes had sprung from just and noble causes

          let us swell with righteousness and swear to kill them all

As if we were all part of some heavenly team

          let us rush forward as one, united by our common wish to see them all dead

As if the days allotted any of us were really none too short

          let us gamble with their young lives before they have learned enough to refuse

As if killing by remote control were the same as real bravery

          let us glorify the video games which guide our giant bombs

As if the animals were a party to our disputes here on earth

          let us burn their habitats that our enemies might have no place to hide

As if the needy had a voice in our war decisions

          let us praise them from a distance and put them closest to the bullets

As if we could find no real meaning in our families, homes and crafts

          let us extol that greater truth existing out there, in the killing fields