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| Destruction in Yemen from drone strikes. |
Sorrow over killing is so uneven.
We weep when ours die from
Terror bombings but shed not a
Tear when our drones mistakenly
Kill hundreds in a wedding
Celebration or when our bombs
Rain again in error for several
Hours on a Doctors without
Borders hospital first in
Kunduz, then by Saudis in
Yemen. The media rail against
The homemade rockets
Palestinians fire against the
Israelis but are silent when
Israeli jets drop one ton bombs
On Gaza. It’s enough to make
A moralist ask, “Why is our
Killing good and their killing
Evil? It’s not that these are
Soldiers killing soldiers. These
Are our young pilots, men and
Women seated at consoles in
Hancock Air Force Base near
Syracuse and Creech Air Force
Base near Las Vegas who, as a
Team of three, decide that the
People who appear as ants on
Their video screens are indeed
Bad guys because of their
“Signatures”—their patterns
Of movement similar to
Those of known or suspected
Bad guys. Whether they push
The button that releases one
Or two Hellfire missiles depends
Somewhat on who and how many
Surround them as targets. For
While the Hellfires can be
Laser-directed, their explosions
Are not so confined. Lasers
And precision can be used in the
Same sentence—Hellfires and
Precision cannot be. Precision
To someone firing a Hellfire
Means, “You got the right
Building.” Our government,
To be sure it is not killing
Civilians and children has
Ruled that any male of
Military age in the vicinity
Of such an explosion is to be
Considered a colleague of
The target, meriting as much
Slaughter as the target, unless
Later shown otherwise. That
Is, if there’s anything left of
The body to permit ID, or if
A witness survived the missile
And knew the body parts were
Not a combatant. When
Somebody does all the work
To find this out and fills the
Proper forms, well, then we’ll
Take it under advisement,
Commission an investigation,
And maybe get back to you,
Witness. Wars are positively
Hypocritical when it comes to
Accepting responsibility for
Causing bloodshed or use of
Gas or terror bombing. We’re
So inured to the mayhem we
Excuse the behavior with,
“They started it,” as if we
Were talking about Timmy
And Billy in third grade.
“They lop off heads,” and
We remove heads, arms,
And legs and torsos turn to
Soup when the rocket hits.
“They kill innocents,” whereas
We think we’re pretty positive
About whom we kill. Excuses
Galore when noble intentions
Debase to blood lust.
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