Thursday, August 19, 2021

The Good War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Good War

 

They called it the good war

(even those who called themselves

the antiwar movement)

They called it the righteous war

(the war with noble intent)

 

When we marched a million strong

Against the war in Iraq

Some of us said: This is not Afghanistan

This is Vietnam

 

They were wrong

They can rewrite history for a thousand years

They will still be wrong

Afghanistan was Vietnam

Afghanistan was Iraq

They were all wars for empire

They were never wars for liberation

They became wars of occupation

With puppet governments

Their own people could not stand

 

In the vast history of civilization

An occupying power has never liberated

A people without the people’s support

The people will always view an invader with doubt

The people of Afghanistan

Would not fight against the Taliban

The people of Afghanistan

Would not fight for American interests

The people of Afghanistan

Would not fight for women’s rights

The people of Afghanistan

Would not fight for American democracy

The people of Afghanistan

Are tired of war

 

They have fought for generations

Against more enemies than they can count

 

Leave them be

Let them determine their own destiny

We are not gods

We cannot tell them

What is worth fighting for

 

The war is over

Go home

 


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