Sometimes at Night

 

For God and Country, I slaughter the enemy,
The way any faithful, obedient soldier should
But like me, the enemy also thinks he's right.
Like me, he believes that his cause is good.

We were sent over here to liberate these people
But I wonder if war can win minds and hearts.
I know a good soldier shouldn't ask questions, 
And they don't matter when the shooting starts.

Our God's on our side, and their God is on theirs. 
I don't have much faith left, so I do what I must.
Just like in Vietnam, the locals shelter our enemy.
I'm afraid of everyone.  I don't know who to trust.

 

The good people of this place are too frightened to smile,
Their lives have been full of fear and suffering for so long.
But today, a woman squeezed my hand and said thank you.
I’ll remember that moment whenever I need to be strong. 

When I enlisted, it was all black and white to me.
I wanted the ones who hurt my people to pay.
But I've killed so many men, I've lost my soul 
And the enemy keeps coming, more every day.

In the heat of the battle, there's no time for reflection. 
To stay alive, I can only think about right here and now. 
But sometimes at night, I think about all that I've done
And know, in all this killing, I've killed myself somehow.

A street fight is won by the most fierce, ruthless fighter
And lost by the one who can't take the pain any more. 
This is why war crimes and atrocities are inevitable.
It takes inhumanity, not compassion, to finish a war. 

Last week, the enemy killed three Christian schoolgirls.
Three little girls on a sunny day, just walking to school.
They found their heads in a field miles from their bodies.
I don't know how any man can become such a ghoul.

But I understand the message they are trying to send us.
They think they can make us so sick, it will shatter our will.
They underestimate our strength, like our old enemies did 
But for every horror I see, there's less of me left to kill.

Sometimes at night, the faces of the dead fill my mind.
The men who, like me, were once little boys full of fun,
When I have time to wonder what changed their hearts 
And what became of the children who played in the sun.

For God and Country, I slaughter the enemy,
The way any faithful, obedient soldier should
But like me, the enemy also thinks he's right.
Like me, he believes that his cause is good.

Author notes

This is not autobiographical. I just tried to put myself in the mind of a soldier in Iraq, though it could be any soldier in almost any war.

Thanks for reading.

Mark

To write a letter to a soldier serving in Iraq, please visit this site -

www.lettersfromhomeprogram.org/

"My dear wife. You get something twisted out of your insides by all this blood, filth and noise. I want to stay changeless for you. I want to come back to you the man I was before. How do we get to those other shores? To those blue hills?" (The Thin Red Line)

Photo credit -

Shell Shocked Soldier
Don McCullin
1968


Written March 6th, 2006

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• 
  NoWayJo
  April 6, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  I actually had to go back to read the poem again after coming directly to the comment debate and reading it afterwards. but I only want to leave you comment to the poem itself, though I will admit the debate was interesting--probably moreso than the Presidential Debates back in 2004!
  
  You've touched on such a personal level of war by this poem, Mark...It's not just by deaths of our soldiers, their fighters be they terrorists or not, or even by that horrible phrase of "collateral damage" to account for the deaths of the innocents. It's the memories of that war experience that live long afterwards from those who knew it. You don't even need be on the battlegrounds to keep that experience within you. Vietnam, Iraq, the WW1 and 2, the Civil War, and every war before and afterwards will have that same effect which you drew so well by this poem.
  
  It's a touching and eloquent poem, Mark, and I'm glad I had the chance to read it.
  
  Jo
  
  
• 
  Kaleidoscope Sky
  April 2, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  I especially liked the second stanza. It asks some very relative questions. Thanks for entering.
• 
  southernpride
  March 23, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  very long, but @ the same time...very touching
• horsequeen91
  March 17, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  WOW!!! Very touching annd thought provoking poem!!!!!!!!
• 
  antique
  March 17, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Hiya Mark .. thanks for applauding my comment .. I didn't know if you'd be offended by it after I'd actually hit the submit button, but it's just my opinion afterall ..
  
  well, unless I'd seen it on tv, it doesn't change my opinion Mark .. I still don't think we (Australia) should be in Iraq .. Afghanistan yes .. Iraq, no ..
  
  What the rest of the world doesn't seem to understand is we are a tiny country .. our population is miniscule in comparison to the United States and Europe .. we have terrorists in our own back yard literally .. we found that out from Bali .. John Howard has committed our troops to Iraq for I believe it is another 7 years minimum.. we don't have the economy to support that kind of thing, .. and it is a worry to all of us .. our defense over here is like a pair of fishnet stockings .. lol .. (I couldn't think of another word) .. basically we don't have any defense .. because all of our money for defense is being pumped into Iraq .. not into protecting ourselves from terror attacks .. I say fishnet stockings because there is holes in our defense force everywhere, and anything can slip through beneath the radar .. and because we're too busy defending Iraq, we have no money to put back into our own defense .. it's as simple as that.
  
  can you understand it from that perspective .. it's all well and good going and saving the world, and yes, we were expected (as allies) to go to Iraq, so I can also understand why Howard sent troops there, but one day, when all hell breaks loose, and I think it will one day .. we're not going to be prepared, because we were too busy defending the other side of the world .. and I don't think I'm being selfish, and I wouldn't have thought Australia to be selfish if they'd stayed out of Iraq (again Afghanistan was necessary) .. but Iraq wasn't responsible for 9/11 and this is why we went to war in the first place .. anyway, I don't believe I'm being selfish saying it, because the people who are in the fight, already have a good defense and a strong economy and a population big enough to fight it .. we don't. Your billion dollars, is like a million to us in defense .. we don't have nasa, because we can't afford it .. that kinda thing .. either way, that is where I am coming from .. I just see our country as vulnerable right now, and I blame our involvement in Iraq for that.
  
  Hope you understand .. hun
  
  
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 16, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  faerie,
  
  I applaud you for actually taking the time to read that debate. That's quite a feat. lol
  
  I have a few questions for you -
  
  An Iraqi general who served under Hussein for 15 years just surfaced, and he says Hussein DID have WMD's and that he flew them all into Syria as soon as he heard there was going to be an invasion. What do you think about that?
  
  Do you think Bush had a right to be suspicious that Hussein had WMD's when Hussein kept kicking out inspectors and not allowing them to inspect certain sites?
  
  Hussein repeatedly said that he had WMD's and that he would use them against us. In fact, he did use chemical weapons on his neighbors several times. Doesn't the fact that he used them in the past indicate that he might still have them?
  
  Re. Canada, they really don't have to get involved in anything because they live next to America and know they can rest peacefully under the blanket of security we provide to this region. Wouldn't you feel secure if you lived next door to a SWAT team? lol
  
  The only chance of us pulling out of Iraq is if we get a liberal president in office after Bush's term is up. That would be a monumental mistake. We would be letting down all the Iraqi's and people throughout the Middle East, most of which is mired down in horrific oppression because of scumbags like the (former) Taliban, and we'd be letting down the rest of the world by turning it back over to terrorists and tyrants.
  
  One of the images that stands out most in my mind is an Iraqi man of about 50 who voted for the first time in his life. He was crying. He said, "God created America to bring freedom to people like me." In my mind, his opinion - the opinion of someone who actually suffered under Hussein's terror culture - overrides everyone else's, especially people living the good life in western countries.
  
  Thanks for your (respectfully delivered) comments. Some people don't seem to know how to do that. lol And thanks for the "hun". I love being called that. haha
  
  Take care,
  
  Mark
  
• 
  antique
  March 16, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  It took me a good three quarters of an hour just to read through the debate .. and I refuse to throw in my opinions, because I'd rather not, except I will express my opinion on one thing a little later .. but here in Australia, we usually spell the words you spell with a Z, with an S .. I guess it would be the same with good old England .. I often get picked up on spelling errors on this site, most notably the word colour (color for you) lol and it drives me insane because it's correct where I come from .. anyhow .. wonderful write .. thought provoking .. I think all of us have a lot to learn from Canada and New Zealand .. I know you will hate me for saying that .. but they know how to keep to themselves .. sometimes I think certain matters in this world are nobodies business .. Iraq I am one hundred per cent against, and I don't think our soldiers should be there at all .. in my opinion Bush Junior is just finishing off what Bush Senior began .. sure Saddam is and was a tyrant, but he didn't have any weapons of mass destruction .. in my opinion (and it is only an opinion) the war is oil .. our worry over in this corner of the globe, is that there is talk that the US is going to pull out of Iraq and the other countries fighting with them are going to be left to hold the baby .. anyways .. just an opinion .. thanks so much for entering and I wish you the best of luck in the contest .... keep the ink flowing hun
• Sunshinegf
  March 15, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  WORTH THE VISIT TO READ
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 14, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Well, there ya go. That's exactly the reason I wasn't interested in talking to you anymore. You're dishonest. You say you only pretended to be arrogant and overstated your case to get a rise out of me. (I doubt that's true. You're probably just trying to find a way to explain away your actual arrogance.)
  
  Then you say you're not going to leave a long response, and you go ahead and do it anyway out of a desire to come out on top. Then the icing on the cake - because I refuse to allow you to parrot your history professor by dissecting a lot of irrelevant historical facts, you continue to accuse me of being less educated than you. How English, and how liberal of you.
  
  Now to address your wrong-headed comments yet again.
  
  "The fact it upset you does not make it dishonest."
  
  You didn't upset me. Don't flatter yourself. I was laughing most of the time during my previous responses. Arguing with a liberal is like arguing with a child. Your naivete is a constant source of amusement to me.
  
  You magically found a way, as liberals so often do, to come at me under a post about how war damages the hearts and minds of all soldiers whether they win or lose - something most liberals should agree with, which puts you in the ultra-liberal category - and start off in an arrogant and condescending way. Then you expect me to be more mature than you and answer you with the civility and class you lack. It doesn't work that way.
  
  Re. cheap shots at England, that was just tit for tat. I can't stand it when English people accuse Americans of being arrogant. Everyone knows English toffeenoses like you are the snobbiest people on the planet. Arrogance drips from your every word.
  
  "I must say that your comments about my spelling are true, though it cannot be blamed on my education."
  
  Okay, I guess it was your study habits then.
  
  Re. using conjecture rather than backing up my claims with history, as I've stated repeatedly, history doesn't matter when you're under attack, just as the background of a murderer and all the awful things that happened to make him a murderer don't matter when he's trying to kill you. You have to defend yourself. What part of that don't you understand? Or is your desire to show off the "historian" in you so strong that you struggle to inject it into every conversation, and accuse anyone who doesn't consider it important of being less educated than you. (Very English and very liberal both, yet again.)
  
  I don't "fall back on personal attacks" any more than you do, I'm just honest about it. I don't do it in the veiled and subtle way that you try to. I see right through you and you can't stand it. I grew up around a mix of Irish and English people so I've come across a lot of English snobs in my life. I'm kind of an expert at spotting one now.
  
  I never said terrorism was "a hate born purely of envy". Obviously, envy is just one of the reasons. They also hate our liberal society and think we're all the devil, literally. They call the west in general but particularly America "The Great Satan". Religious fanaticism at its best. This is why sitting around smoking a hookah with these idiots would be a waste of time. They hate us. They hate liberals just as much as conservatives, pacifists as much as non-pacifists. If you're from the west, they'll kill you just for the fun of it. Liberals don't admit to the existence of evil, so they don't recognize it when they see it. It usually takes some deep, personal loss at the hands of an evil person for them to realize that feeling good about themselves isn't as important as punishing evil shitheads. That's where the old expression came from - "A conservative is a liberal who got mugged."
  
  "Thus while we must meet the current threat we must also delve into our regrettable actions over the past fifty/hundred years so that we can realise where some of this hatred comes from and can try to take away their recruits. This is not a war that can be won purely with guns and bombs - we have, to quote our dear leaders, to also win hearts and minds."
  
  What good does "delving into our regrettable actions" do? So we apologize to the people we hurt, then what? I think we're already doing the right thing - killing the terrorists who so richly deserve to die while helping the good people who want our help.
  
  Sorry to not let you have the last word on my page. I'm blocking you, not because I can't argue with you, but because I don't like people who don't argue honestly, and who are apparently too insecure to resist speaking to others without condescension and arrogance. I don't have time for it.
  
  
  Edited on Mar 15, 6:12 p.m. because ''.
• whatyoursoulsings
  March 14, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  fair enough mark,
  thank you for our converstaion. I will write this short post and then leave it. I am writing this firstly to defend myself against being 'dishonest'. You held a view, I used real facts and an interpretation I could appreciate of those facts to hear your views on them. The fact it upset you does not make it dishonest. Its like me complaining about your cheap shots at England - it doesnt get a rise out of me, im surprised it gets one out of you. In fact I must say that your comments about my spelling are true, though it cannot be blamed on my education (and some of those spellings are english versions.)
  
  I have already apologised for calling you ignorant (it was unfair as I have acknowledged) though I at least justified it by your lack of any true evidence to back up your claims. This didn't change in your later e-mail. You use conjecture and opinion instead of facts (the historian in me). As I recieved no such response from you I must say I find it worrying that someone who is clearly a lot older (and thus surely more secure in their views) than me would need to fall back on personal attacks so much. Thankfully I do not feel I need to answer them :-).
  The argument was from the start about your views, you defending, me attacking. Thus the 'pissing contest' isnt fair on you anyway because its focused on your beliefs, not mine.
  
  Anyway your second response made me think about politics again (its such a dirty word these days it seems!) and so, while i want no reply, this is a SHORT paragraph on my beliefs to end this 'debate'. (Note that this is not a reply to you):
  Terrorism is an evil in the world that does need to be met with major force. You and I could likely spend fruitless days debating in what way. Everyone has their own ideas. BUT we in the West also need to realise that these people, however evil some may believe them to be, were not born to hate us. It is also naive to think it is a hate born purely of envy. Thus while we must meet the current threat we must also delve into our regrettable actions over the past fifty/hundred years so that we can realise where some of this hatred comes from and can try to take away their recruits. This is not a war that can be won purely with guns and bombs - we have, to quote our dear leaders, to also win hearts and minds.
  
  Take care Mark. Thanks for (indirectly) making me think about politics again.
  
  Peace out. (How horribly liberal!)
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Thanks for the apology but next time, just be honest rather than inflammatory (two m's) and condescending to manipulate me. That's also called "dishonest" where I come from. In fact, I'd prefer you didn't respond again. I have no desire to prove you wrong, and you're definitely not going to win me over to your way of thinking. This is already turning into a pissing contest and I'm sure you have better things to do with our time. I know I do.
  
  I've been on this site a long time now and had numerous arguments with liberals trying to convince me that there's no such thing as evil. I'll never sympathize with human fleas for the sake of pretending that I'm nicer than someone who isn't afraid to say something or someone he sees is wrong/evil/bad and do something about it. The world would have been overrun with evil men long ago if not for that kind of thinking.
  
  Best wishes anyway, and thanks for the concessions in your last post. No hard feelings. If you want to comment on other non-political poems of mine, I'd love to hear from you. As far as arguing about politics, I'm really not interested. I already know what I believe. My mind's not closed. I'm just bored with the standard liberal arguments. If I was going to be won over, it would have happened by now.
  
  Take care,
  
  Mark
• whatyoursoulsings
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Dear Mark,
  First I must appologise for my previous post. I made it deliberately inflamatory and condescending to try and bring out more of your opinions. Plus I was in a bad mood. I must say I must stand corrected in many ways. In my defense your previous comments indicated that you were far less reasonable and well-thoughtout than your last post suggests. My mistake. Thus I will drop this abrasive intellectual arrogance and try and answer your questions. Forgive me, like I say I am slightly embarassed by the condescension of my previous e-mails, you came across as one of those bible holding Christian fundamentalists its easy to stereotypicalise Republicans as. As I said my mistake, and my shame for talking down to you because of this.
  
  Right - one in my defense. 'Everything is filtered through the prism of what some history professor told you.' This is crap. While liberals apparently like throwing stones Conservatives like pretending that Liberals have no backbone and make their opinions because it seems 'nice' or because they were told this. Liberals believe that Conservatives are dim or have not considered all the facts. Or are in the very elite group that beneift for tax cuts and are very good at convincing the less fortunate that they will act in their interest. Neither are true.
  
  I dont hate America, I just felt you were only seeing the good so I tried to emphasise the bad. I will reply to the rest when I have time in the next day or so.
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Talesian,
  
  Thanks so much for letting me know my poem affected you that way. I really appreciate it.
  
  Every happiness,
  
  Mark
  
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  It's hard to maintain a civil discourse when your obvious seething hatred of America comes through in almost every line, most notably -
  
  "Guantanamo Bay as a microcosm of all American foreign policy . . ."
  
  That line almost made you unworthy of continuing this conversation with, but I will.
  
  The basic difference between us, and between liberals and conservatives in general, is that you think in terms of moral relativism and conservatives think in moral absolutes. How can I argue with someone who doesn't even have an opinion about what right and wrong is? Everything is filtered through the prism of what some history professor told you. I prefer to judge specific action upon the action alone, not who did what to whom hundreds of years ago. Even if America did help tyrants attain power, and even if we do support them as long as our interests are being served - which I don't agree with, by the way. If it were up to me, we would never break bread with scumbags. In fact, we'd be too busy killing them all to eat - I look at a specific action - the 9/11 attacks, for instance - and say "That was wrong/evil/bad." Basically, all the words that liberals hate.
  
  I went to college, too. Just because someone doesn't pepper everything they say with historical facts doesn't mean they don't know anything about history, though I know people who do like to impress others with their textbook learning are fond of putting other people down in that way. After all, it's great feeling intellectually superior to someone, but even better when you can try to make that person feel inferior, sort of like chopping someone's head off to make yourself feel taller. So please don't make uninformed implications about my education and comments like "Please at least think about it and maybe do some reading . . ." if you want this conversation to stay civil. Just because I have the courage to have an opinion about the nature of evil doesn't make me ignorant.
  
  By the way, you misspelled sinical (cynical), Maciavelli (Machiavelli), agonised (agonized), definately (definitely), realise (realize), Reagen (Reagan), and Sadam (Saddam). Please learn how to spell before you accuse others of being uneducated.
  
  Re. Plato, Aristotle, et al, I don't care how tormented they were about the nature of evil. I know it when I see it. If that offends you, so be it. I'm ashamed of some things America has done (slavery, the attempted genocide of the American Indians, supporting tyrants, arming the world, weapon proliferation, etc.) However, I think your American "arrogance and superiority" argument doesn't hold water. In fact, it sounds a lot like sour grapes to me. Success is always resented. It's the same psychological dynamic that makes people simultaneously love and resent celebrities - and why rags like the National Enquirer or whatever tabloids you have in England do so well. The people who love a celebrity most will be the first one to kick them in the teeth when they're down because there's a fine line between envy and resentment. The rest of the world envies America. That's why so many are trying to get here and nobody wants to leave.
  
  Re. your comment about Guantanamo Bay being America in microcosm, you should turn the mirror around. More violence to people in every corner of the world has been done in the name of English Imperialism than almost anything else, second only to Communism. In fact, because of England's traditional and cowardly way of doing battle - fanning the flames of small disputes so that they'll kill each other and save them the trouble, then exploiting the natives and taking all their natural resources to fill the queen's treasury - Gandhi said, "If two fish are fighting at the bottom of the ocean, the English probably had something to do with it." So let's not get into a contest about whose country has more blood on their hands. England's hands are dripping with it.
  
  "From a further philosophical perspective I can see maybe the world needs people like you: 'headstrong' people (I would, from your reply have to fight hard to not replace it with the word 'ignorant' - I shall elaborate soon)"
  
  That comment is a perfect example of something I always say - if liberals are on one side of the street and conservatives are on the other, it will always be the liberals who start throwing rocks and bottles. Liberals seem to attract people who engage in name-calling. I have my own definition of ignorant. It's people who don't have enough of a sense of self, who stand for nothing, who overintellectualize everything while the people of the world suffer, and who depend on the military they demonize. They're like children in a lot of ways. They can't help name-calling because they're basically immature and naive to the depth of evil in the world. I just hope it won't take a nuclear bomb to make you aware of the difference. Despite what your pothead college professors told you, there is right and wrong. I'm sorry you don't know the difference, but I do. People who chop little girls' heads off are evil. Yes, people representing America have done many stupid/evil things, and I'll be the first one to condemn them for it, but the past doesn't keep me from thinking clearly and seeing evil in the present. Terrorism immediately overrides other evils and past offenses. When you kill thousands of civilians, your gripes cease to matter. The civilized world is then morally obligated to stop you from doing it again.
  
  "The world, much as you might disagree, also needs people like me, who try and warn the headstrong people when they rush into belligerent, unilateral actions."
  
  That's one thing we agree on, actually. In fact, I would be one of the people who exhausts every other avenue before going to war. Nobody likes war. It should always be a last resort. Unfortunately, politely asking EVIL tyrants to step down doesn't usually work.
  
  "The gripe of people like me is not that people like you propose action, it is that you seemingly do not bother to acsertain the facts."
  
  Facts don't matter when someone declares war on you and bombs one of your major cities. I feel the same way about murderers that I do about terrorists. BEFORE they kill someone, I'll talk to them until the cows come home. But after they kill someone, they lose the right to be understood. (Check out my poem "The Upside of Hatred" for more on that.) When someone engages in a terrorist act against civilians, they check out of the civilized world and become a cancer that we must cut out. Their gripe no longer matters because the evil they committed outweighs it.
  
  "Let me first dispel a little myth for you:" (More condescending language.) - America has absolutely no moral highground in the world. While at home it maintains democracy and freedom (and racial tensions and a huge death rate and no national health service - "
  
  There are no racial tensions in England?? lol Every country has it's problems, especially one that invites people from all over the world with open arms to blend together - i.e., the "melting pot" - something England has been experiencing for only the past 40 years or so. Call America what you will, but you don't often hear about people all over the world dreaming about someday going to England to make their dreams come true. People want to make the most of their lives. In any field of endeavor, America is the best place to do it. That's why America is considered to be the greatest country in the world by anyone who doesn't resent success.
  
  "Take Guantanamo Bay as a microcosm of all Am. foreign policy for the past 50 years - it is outside American territory therefore it is fine to torture and hold with no trial."
  
  (Which is still far better treatment than they would have received at the hands of Hussein, or they would give to us if the tables were turned. Call me crazy but I tend to sympathize with the victims of terror, not terrorists, despite the bleeding heart liberals who constantly rush to the aid of the repugnant lowlifes we have to share this planet with.)
  
  "I think everyone would be done a favour by removing the enormous self-satisfaction you as a nation have no reason to feel."
  
  Please. If any group of people can be defined as smug and self-satisfied, it's the English. Their arrogance and haughtiness is legendary.
  
  "The sad, sinic inspiring truth is that you have behaved exactly as we did when we were number 1."
  
  Agreed, and I'm ashamed of that. Imperialist plundering of the world's resources at the expense of native populations is also an EVIL that America and England are both guilty of. England perfected it for centuries, but America learned well. We were founded by Brits, after all, the historical leaders in mass murder, pillaging, and exploitation of dark-skinned races.
  
  "You have acted entirely in your own interests."
  
  Actually, ridding the world of terrorists is a favor to all of humanity. They're a cancer in the body of humanity that needs to be cut out.
  
  "It was all fairly justifiable when you had the USSR there. You both messed around with countries, gave weapons to irresponsible and ultimately nasty 'freedom fighters' in order to piss each other off. (n.b. look into the beginnings of the Taliban and Sadam Hussein - where did he purchase the gas he used on the Iranians and the Kurds?)"
  
  I agree. That's one of the things I'm ashamed of my country about. We should have blasted the Taliban and Hussein off the face of the earth a long time ago. We should never court tyrants for any reason. However, as I said, past mistakes don't negate the fact that we need to do something about present danger, and punish the wicked. Somebody needs to, and I'm sorry that my desire to do so is stronger than yours. I would suggest going and having a nice long, civilized chat over tea with the terrorists, if you don't mind drinking it with a slit throat, because they would laugh at your desire to understand them and kill you as gleefully as they would a U.S. soldier. You're a western non-Muslim. That's good enough for them. Yeah, we should try to talk some sense into them. Right. Go to www.michaelsavage.com and watch all the videos there, then come back and tell me we should negotiate with terrorists. I'll bet you don't even watch it. Liberals don't care about facts and they have no desire to see evil as it really is. Feeling good about yourself is more important than punishing and preventing evil, so you leave it to heartier souls to do the dirty work, then complain about how they do it.
  
  "You dont have that excuse anymore. This is just militarily by the way - economically the subsidies you pay your farmers and the CAP of the EEC (our bad) effectively destroy third world economies - they cant compete."
  
  When one company/country succeeds, another loses. A sad but true fact of the modern world economy.
  
  "Little do people know but the USA was the most protectionist country in the world before 1913 - it gave its industries time to grow before exposing them to the global competition. You are not extending, like us before you, this privlege to newer challengers."
  
  What are you talking about? Hardly anything is "made in America" anymore. We outsource everything to other countries. The rest of the world is riding America like suckerfishes on the belly of a whale.
  
  "I must say there is far more evidence for both sides of the argument and that I am being irresponsible - America has definately achieved some 'good', though one might question how much blood it took to achieve it."
  
  As is true with England. I guess you really do have to break a few eggs to make an omelette, especially when so many countries who can't get their shit together hate and resent your success.
  
  Aside from that, as the article I asked you (in my previous response) to read states, "Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan."
  
  When America is in trouble, on the other hand, we get little to no help from the rest of the world. Who bailed us out when the railroads went under? Nobody. America is used to going it alone. We're also used to the rest of the world looking to us with their hands out every time there's a disaster. Those loans are almost never paid back. But yeah, we do not good in the world. Jesus.
  
  "For example the number of 'democracies' in South America increased from 30% to 90% over the 1980's, largely due to Reagen's interventions there."
  
  True, and they are better because of it. The same could and will be true of the Middle East. The terrorists/insurgents (same thing) know it. That's why they're fighting so hard. They were benefiting and will continue to benefit from the traditional, repressive systems in most of their countries, where religious and political leaders live lavish lifestyles as they conspire to keep 98% of the population ignorant, hateful and poor (because they are easier to control that way, as the ancient Romans knew so well.)
  
  I believe in the years ahead that the war in Iraq will be a small skirmish in a larger civil war in the Middle East between progressive Muslims who want to join and enjoy the fruits of the modern world, and conservative Muslims who want the country to stay buried in darkness and oppression. We are helping the liberals of the M.E. the same way the French helped us beat the British during our civil war. If the fundamentalists in the M.E. win, the whole world loses. Many leading Muslim scholars agree that the best thing that can happen in the Middle East is the installation of democratic governments. In fact, they see it as the only way out of the unrest and corruption that is so prevalent in most Middle Eastern countries.
  
  "The thing is our states are no different - i.e. we just act in our own interests too - but we generally dont have the same annoying sense of moral superiority that comes from being world number 1."
  
  Again, please don't talk to me about moral superiority. The English (some, not all) are the best in the world at looking down their nose at others. I guess being #2 or #27, or whatever England is, provides plenty of fodder for feeling superior, too.
  
  "I realise there are misguided dangerous peoples in the world (note NOT evil) who need to be met with force and that America should take a lead. But Americans need to delve into their history, uncover all the many lies there and then come back to the job, enlightened and so less moralistic. The biggest lie is that America as a state is hellbent on doing 'GOOD' in the world."
  
  Let me get this straight. We should not defend ourselves, not stop EVIL tyrants around the world, and not punish terrorists who kill thousands of us UNTIL we're all thoroughly ashamed of our mistakes of the past? Sorry, but I don't dwell on the past. I deal with the present based on my own moral code and look to the future. I know what America has done, and I am ashamed of some things as an American, but that wouldn't alter my course one bit. I still have a very clear eye when it comes to spotting evil in the world, and in my own leaders. I don't blindly follow anyone, but I know that there are times when civilized people need to thin out the herd. There are repugnant monstrosities in this world that have lost the right to live. I know. Friends of mine have been raped. A man died in my arms after being shot by someone too lazy and immoral to work for a living. I've walked through crime scenes with the blood and hair of children drying in clumps on the floor. I've seen evil close up. Have you?
  
  "To quote from Shakespeare's Caesar:
  'The fault dear Brutus is not in the stars, it is in ourselves.'
  If you claim wrong and right as they do and you kill children as they do."
  
  We don't kill children. That's ultra-liberal bullshit. Our civilians casualties are accidents that our military mourns and our nation mourns. Their civilians casualties are intentional and they celebrate them. They would love nothing more than to kill your children. The U.S. house to house searches are a far cry from terrorism. Terrorism would be blowing them all to kingdom come, as we could easily do, from a hundred miles away. This is a surgical operation. We don't cut the heads off the patient. The terrorist's do that.
  
  "But in the next 50 years China will likely displace you as the world's most powerful economy (and then eventually military.) What then?"
  
  You sound a little hopeful. More America hatred seeping out? To answer your question - "what then?" - personally, I won't care if China has a more powerful economy than America does, but I suspect America will change, adapt, and compete, as we always have. And who really cares who's stronger, as long as both are prospering?
  
  "It is very good to be opinionated when you have studied ALL the facts, not before. (I most certainly have not, but from your e-mail's lack of specific evidence I must assume I have studied more than yourself. Please correct me).
  
  Consider yourself corrected.
  
  Since you made no mention of the article on my author page that I asked you to read (What is an American?), I will paste it for you here, though I know it might ease the hatred of America you apparently enjoy so much. The good America has done for people around the world outweighs the bad. I lament our mistakes but they don't blind me to the responsibilities and hard necessities of the present.
  
  If you choose to respond to this, please try to be less arrogant and superior, headstrong, belligerent, and self-satisfied - ironically, all the things you accuse of Americans of being. Strange thing about people - they often condemn the same traits in others that they possess most in themselves.
  
  
  What is an American? A primer.
  
  By Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law.
  
  September 25, 2001
  
  You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
  
  So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.
  
  An American is English or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.
  
  An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them choose.
  
  An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
  
  An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.
  
  An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
  
  An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to power.
  
  American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each of them choose.
  
  An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by majority vote.
  
  Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions, because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because they know they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their history, as each of them choose.
  
  And just as Americans welcome all, they enjoy the best that everyone has to bring, from all over the world. The best science, the best technology, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes.
  
  Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest-tossed.
  
  These in fact are the people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers on the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families.
  
  So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.
  
  But in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
  
  So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you thought were there. One day, they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too will join the community of free and prosperous nations.
  
  And America will welcome them.
  
  
  
  
  Edited on Mar 13, 4:36 p.m. because ''.
• whatyoursoulsings
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Ok Mark,
  Firstly let me thank you for your swift and thorough reply. I too am very opinionated and it is nice to converse with someone in a different country with such different views. The wonders of the modern world eh? I must also appologise if you are offended by this next e-mail - I have to say what I believe and I believe you are very misguided.
  I must confess I was holding back my views somewhat on the first e-mail because I wanted you to fully express yours. I have to say I study history at a good university and many who do become sinical of politics if that explains my views. Its hard not to. I believe you are misguided in two MAJOR ways:
  
  1) On a personal/ philosophical note. Lets see:
  - 'Not preaching at all. I just have enough confidence, education, and experience to determine what good and evil are.'
  Ah. Some of the greatest minds in human history: Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Maciavelli, Kant, Nietzsche and many more have agonised over how to be sure of what good and evil are, and how we can determine them. If only they had met you! You could have saved them a lifetime of work and then also the time of the hundreds of thousands of scholars who have wasted time studying them.
  Surely you must be religious - no one without a faith could make so bold/arrogant/ignorant a claim as this!
  From a further philosophical perspective I can see maybe the world needs people like you: 'headstrong' people (I would, from your reply have to fight hard to not replace it with the word 'ignorant' - I shall elaborate soon), as there are other 'headstrong' people on the other side who also believe they know what good and evil is. As flawed as your views appear we would obviously rather be ruled by your ambitions than theirs. The world, much as you might disagree, also needs people like me, who try and warn the headstrong people when they rush into belligerent, unilateral actions.
  
  'What would you do if a band of maniacs broke into your house? Lie down and let them do whatever they want? Or fight to the death to save yourself and your family? That's what I mean when I say there are times when violence is necessary.'
  Of course - I do not class myself as an idiot or a coward. If maniacs broke into my house and threatened to kill my family I would fight back with deadly force. The problem is that the gripe of people like me is not that people like you propose action, it is that you seemingly do not bother to acsertain the facts. Let me first dispel a little myth for you:
  America has absolutely no moral highground in the world. While at home it maintains democracy and freedom (and racial tensions and a huge death rate and no national health service - I must point out that contrary to your opinion America is not classed as having the greatest standard of living in the world, despite its great wealth. Try Norway, Switzerland, Germany) abroad it is far less nice. Take Guantanamo Bay as a microcosm of all Am. foreign policy for the past 50 years - it is outside American territory therefore it is fine to torture and hold with no trial. I think everyone would be done a favour by removing the enormous self-satisfaction you as a nation have no reason to feel. The sad, sinic inspiring truth is that you have behaved exactly as we did when we were number 1. You have acted entirely in your own interests. It was all fairly justifiable when you had the USSR there. You both messed around with countries, gave weapons to irresponsible and ultimately nasty 'freedom fighters' in order to piss each other off. (n.b. look into the beginnings of the Taliban and Sadam Hussein - where did he purchase the gas he used on the Iranians and the Kurds?) You dont have that excuse anymore. This is just militarily by the way - economically the subsidies you pay your farmers and the CAP of the EEC (our bad) effectively destroy third world economies - they cant compete. Little do people know but the USA was the most protectionist country in the world before 1913 - it gave its industries time to grow before exposing them to the global competition. You are not extending, like us before you, this privlege to newer challengers.
  
  'I'm proud that I'm from a country that doesn't stand back complacently and watch tyrants rape and murder with impunity, and I don't understand anyone who isn't.'
  Lets see - if you look at pretty much anywhere in the world over the past fifty years you will find dictators backed up by American power. Dictators who 'rape and murder with impunity'. The one exception is (guess where?)....the middle east, that EVIL place where they are all horrible and we should go and make them happy...and take their oil. Yep, you guessed it, they let Rwanda and the Sudan happen, stayed mostly quiet on Apartheid, supported tyrants in South Korea ('Syngman Rhee - He governed in an authoritarian manner and allowed the internal security force to detain and torture suspected Communists and North Korean agents. His government also oversaw several massacres'- I copy and pasted this, its being nice to him, trust me),Iran and Cuba and today in the 'stan' (forgive me) area between Iran and Russia, but when Kuwait, OIL!, was invaded there was no stopping their might.The other time they ardently intervene is when they believe Commys might take over. Often they arm up as nasty a group as those they are fighting and leave them to fight it out. The masses, needless to say, dont benefit.
  I must say there is far more evidence for both sides of the argument and that I am being irresponsible - America has definately achieved some 'good', though one might question how much blood it took to achieve it - for example the number of 'democracies' in South America increased from 30% to 90% over the 1980's, largely due to Reagen's interventions there.
  
  The thing is our states are no different - i.e. we just act in our own interests too - but we generally dont have the same annoying sense of moral superiority that comes from being world number 1. I realise there are misguided dangerous peoples in the world (note NOT evil) who need to be met with force and that America should take a lead. But Americans need to delve into their history, uncover all the many lies there and then come back to the job, enlightened and so less moralistic. The biggest lie is that America as a state is hellbent on doing 'GOOD' in the world.
  
  To quote from Shakespeare's Caesar:
  'The fault dear Brutus is not in the stars, it is in ourselves.'
  If you claim wrong and right as they do and you kill children as they do and support tyrants as they do what have you got left? You have craven power. But in the next 50 years China will likely displace you as the world's most powerful economy (and then eventually military.) What then?
  
  Please at least think about it and maybe do some reading into American actions in the past fifty years i.e. those things the newsreports just wont dig up to attain the truth of my replies.
  It is very good to be opinionated when you have studied ALL the facts, not before. (I most certainly have not, but from your e-mail's lack of specific evidence I must assume I have studied more than yourself. Please correct me).
  
  I welcome a reply.
  
• talesien
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply

  WOW!

  Holy God. This is one of the most powerful poems I have ever read. You have captured faith, doubt, strength and weakness so deftly that I was swept into the POV. Amazing work. If I ever write something half that good, I'll be a happy man.
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 13, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Hi,
  
  Thanks for the intelligent comments on this. I'll do my best to address them.
  
  "Forgive me for doing this but you seem to be enjoying the debate over war . . ."
  
  Not really. I just have strong opinions.
  
  "I am from England, a country in which many people look towards America as a headstrong bully, convinced of its own moral superiority, and certain to drag the rest of us into wars we (sans our conservative sections) dont ask for."
  
  I see America as I see myself, as a country that stands for something. If people interpret that as being a headstrong bully, that's their problem. I have been to England many times and was even told once by an English woman, who was also a history buff, "Do you know what I love about you Americans? When something is wrong somewhere in the world, you're always the first ones in there doing something about it, while much of the rest of the world sits back and criticizes."
  
  There have been many times when we didn't do enough soon enough, but I'm proud of the fact that America is headstrong. Someone needs to be in this world, and if the oppressed people of the world waited for a country like France to do something, or for the U.N. to make a quick decision about anything, they would die of old age before anything got done.
  
  "I believe the solution can only be in a merging of attempts to restore the negative opinion of our two nations within the middle east, economic aid and a huge investment in an internatonal anti-terrorism force that does what America has been doing for half a century - highly efficent covert operations across the globe."
  
  Prior to 9/11, America was the single largest contributor to Afghanistan. Since America consumes so much of the world's resources, primarily oil, we are also mostly responsible for the prosperity the Middle East enjoys due to oil revenues. Almost all of the economic aid America has given to the rest of the world hasn't been paid back and never will. In fact, many of the countries this aid was given to ended up attacking us. Countries are a lot like people - they hate to ask for charity and only accept it with a mixture of gratitude and shame. That shame becomes contempt until the debt is finally forgotten.
  
  Investing wouldn't change anything because the inherent problems in the Middle East would still exist - mutual, conspiring corruption by religious and political leaders in conjunction with the media and an intentionally created, uneducated underclass that they can rule with fear and intimidation. They are cultures of death steeped in religious nonsense that they should have and would have pulled themselves out of centuries ago if they had been given a chance to by their religious "leaders". i.e., the fanatical Muslims hate us anyway. Bush is right when he says the terrorists hate our freedom. It's absolutely true. They don't think in terms of good and evil, they think in terms of Muslim and non-Muslim. They would laugh at your tolerance and desire for peace.
  
  "What really worries me is a merging of two of your comments, these two were enough, I did not read further:
  'But like me, the enemy also thinks he's right.
  Like me, he believes that his cause is good.' Good point. The problem is you seem to have fallen into your own trap. You feel you can judge: 'There is immoral violence (Hitler) and there is moral violence (killing Hitler).' 'There has been a battle between darkness and light since time began, and good people have had to go against their own natural character and love of peace to protect innocent people from them. It's sad and tragic, but necessary."
  
  Yes, I DO feel like I can judge. Someone needs to say, "That's wrong. Someone needs to stop it." What would you do if a band of maniacs broke into your house? Lie down and let them do whatever they want? Or fight to the death to save yourself and your family? That's what I mean when I say there are times when violence is necessary. There are evil men and evil empires that leave civilized people no choice but to defend themselves or liberate the people they are victimizing.
  
  "Ok so you have established (on your own, via your faith, via the Bush administration?) that there is an absolute good and evil."
  
  I don't have much faith in any God doing anything for us. It's painfully obvious that we're on our own down here. Too many horrible things happen every day for me to believe that someone is watching out for us. Therefore, if people don't do it, it doesn't get done. If we don't watch out for each other, nobody will. I don't have blind faith in the Bush administration either. The only thing I have faith in is my own opinion of what right and wrong is - and killing thousands of innocent people just doing their jobs is wrong. We've captured most of the a-holes involved in the planning and execution of the 9/11 attacks, and we've killed thousands of their terrorist friends. There hasn't been another attack - major or minor - in the U.S. since because they're all too busy running, hiding or dying to plan one. I'd call that a success. The good guys are winning.
  
  "For me this worrying on its own - you can justify a war as Bush can - in a preachers black and white 'Good and Evil'."
  
  Not preaching at all. I just have enough confidence, education, and experience to determine what good and evil are.
  
  "Now add this to an extract from the comment you made under that first one: 'Actually, I said it takes inhumanity, not compassion, to end a war. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for instance. Who knows what Japan had in store for America before those two death blows. Wars can't be fought halfway. As a friend and war veteran on this site (Chuck Johnson) said under this piece, "As soon as the first shot is fired, politics go out the window. It becomes personal." Once the war begins, there is no room for compassion toward the other side. The side who wins is the side willing to do the most unthinkable acts.'
  So you know whats wrong and right AND you believe that any kind of force is defensible in defense of 'right'?"
  
  Yes.
  
  "How can you distinguish yourselves from those you wish to make war on? How is your 'good' better than theirs?"
  
  Check out the essay on my author page called "What is an American?" The proof is in the pudding. Americans enjoy a great standard of living, the best humanity has ever known. 90% of the people in the Middle East live in squalor because of corrupt governments. Americans are free to worship as they choose. Non-Muslims are persecuted and killed in the M.E. 47 of the 49 Muslim dominated/controlled countries of the world are tyrannies. Hotbeds of intolerance. Cultures of death. Their only exports are oil and terrorism. People have been predicting trouble from radical Muslims for decades, long before Bush was in office. It just arrived after he was elected. By the way, Kerry and Clinton both wanted to invade Iraq, too. Clinton even proposed it to Congress but they denied it. Funny that they should criticize Bush now for doing what they wanted to do before, eh?
  
  "Every state has a right to defend its people, but the war on Afghanistan could barely pass as this, CERTAINLY not the war on Iraq. An absolute sense of wrong and right just exacerbates war."
  
  Hussein said he had WMD's on many occasions, threatened the U.S. with them, used chemical weapons on neighboring countries and even his own people, killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's, diverted funds meant for food so that he could build more palaces for himself, which caused over 25,000 children a year to die of starvation, and he blocked WMD inspections by U.N. inspectors repeatedly. One of his generals recently said that Hussein did have WMD's but he flew them into Syria just before the invasion. But you'll never hear about that because liberals hate Republicans more than they love the truth. Whether or not Hussein had anything to do with 9/11, he was an evil prick and, as Clinton and Kerry would agree, needed to be taken down before he did finally get the nuclear warhead he always wanted.
  
  "I just wish a day would come when every country would see eye-to-eye on everything, stop considering themselves superior to others in terms of religion, form of government."
  
  Me, too, but you apparently have America confused with Muslim countries. There are all kinds of religions and people who want other forms of government here, but they're not executed and thrown into holes in the desert, as Hussein was so fond of doing. If, as I said, 47 of the 49 Muslim controlled countries of the world weren't cesspools of despair, maybe America and the other countries of this world that have a conscience and humanitarian instincts wouldn't have to do anything to stop it. Personally, I'm proud that I'm from a country that doesn't stand back complacently and watch tyrants rape and murder with impunity, and I don't understand anyone who isn't.
  
  "It would seem from this you just want everyone to agree with YOU."
  
  As I said, I have strong opinions. I couldn't care less if everyone agrees with me. I know what I believe with or without their approval.
  
  "Please do reply and correct any misinterpretation I have of your ideas."
  
  You're not misinterpreting them at all. In fact, I reiterate everything you quoted.
  
  Thanks,
  
  Mark
  Edited on Mar 13, 1:40 because ''.
• 
  XxGoldenxXDawnxX
  March 12, 2006
  Edit | Reply

  Great

  A truly great poem and seems to come from the heart of a warrior. You ever seen Troy? Well if you did or not - I have and I think this sounds something like the words Achilles would have said as well.
  
  I liked reading it.. but was left thinking about the current war situation and hoping for heavens sake that it will come to some kind of conclusion or end.
• whatyoursoulsings
  March 12, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Mark,
  Forgive me for doing this but you seem to be enjoying the debate over war so I thought I would add my own opinion to yours. I would love a reply. I am from England, a country in which many people look towards America as a headstrong bully, convinced of its own moral superiority, and certain to drag the rest of us into wars we (sans our conservative sections) dont ask for. I am also a student of history.
  I am as concerned about terrorism as im sure you are. I believe the solution can only be in a merging of attempts to restore the negative opinion of our two nations within the middle east, economic aid and a huge investment in an internatonal anti-terrorism force that does what America has been doing for half a century - highly efficent covert operations across the globe.
  What really worries me is a merging of two of your comments, these two were enough, I did not read further:
  'But like me, the enemy also thinks he's right.
  Like me, he believes that his cause is good.' Good point. The problem is you seem to have fallen into your own trap. You feel you can judge: 'There is immoral violence (Hitler) and there is moral violence (killing Hitler).' 'There has been a battle between darkness and light since time began, and good people have had to go against their own natural character and love of peace to protect innocent people from them. It's sad and tragic, but necessary.'
  Ok so you have established (on your own, via your faith, via the Bush administration?) that there is an absolute good and evil. For me this worrying on its own - you can justify a war as Bush can - in a preachers black and white 'Good and Evil'.
  Now add this to an extract from the comment you made under that first one: 'Actually, I said it takes inhumanity, not compassion, to end a war. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for instance. Who knows what Japan had in store for America before those two death blows. Wars can't be fought halfway. As a friend and war veteran on this site (Chuck Johnson) said under this piece, "As soon as the first shot is fired, politics go out the window. It becomes personal." Once the war begins, there is no room for compassion toward the other side. The side who wins is the side willing to do the most unthinkable acts.'
  So you know whats wrong and right AND you believe that any kind of force is defensible in defense of 'right'? How can you distinguish yourselves from those you wish to make war on? How is your 'good' better than theirs.
  Every state has a right to defend its people, but the war on Afghanistan could barely pass as this, CERTAINLY not the war on Iraq. An absolute sense of wrong and right just exacerbates war.
  'I just wish a day would come when every country would see eye-to-eye on everything, stop considering themselves superior to others in terms of religion, form of government'
  It would seem from this you just want everyone to agree with YOU.
  Please do reply and correct any misinterpretation I have of your ideas.
• 
  xeronik
  March 12, 2006
  Edit | Reply

  kickin' chickn'

  wow, this could be a lyric, could serve as a good song if you had a band, really kickin chickn dude, awesome poem, genious, i applaud you allmighty greatness of writing, and i wish more people could write this long of a heartfelt, creative, rhyming poem, ... but then again, i always applaud these poems so... i need points still, lol, if everyone was this good i would waste all my points applauding you all, muahahaahaha, peace
• 
  gymgirl426
  March 11, 2006
  Edit | Reply

  AWESOME

  This poem is of the many that I have read...excellent! My dad is in the Navy reserves, he is a pharmacist and he has not been sent over to Iraq. A couple times they were about to send his unit over, a couple times I felt horrible to know that my dad might be gone, but then a couple times later I was relieved to know he was staying. Thank you for righting this poem, in a way I feel connected to this soldier because I know that we want the enemy to be destroyed, but in itself we are destroying ourselves. No poem I have read yet is about a war and a desperate soldier trying to put life back into his heart and I think it is just great!
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 10, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  NYP,
  
  Thank you very much but as I mentioned in my author's comments under this poem, I'm not serving in Iraq. I just tried to put myself in the mind of a soldier there, or a soldier in general who is having trouble handling all the madness. If you'd like to write to a soldier serving right now in Iraq, please visit www.lettersfromhomeprogram.org
  
  Thanks,
  
  Mark
  
  
• New York Princess
  March 10, 2006
  Edit | Reply

  wonderful

  I wanted to say that your poem is true. I never understood how you could go out there a kill but now I see. Stay strong and know that someday al this will be over. I will keep you in my prayers. Keep God with you always.
• 
  AALouisiana
  March 10, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  A very realistic view of war my ap friend Very well written
• VariousSingularity
  March 9, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  This is an amazing piece, truly one of the best poems on this site that I've read. The stanza: "For God and Country, I slaughter the enemy,/The way any faithful, obedient soldier should/ But like me, the enemy also thinks he's right./
  Like me, he believes that his cause is good." and the line: "Our God is on our side, and their God is on theirs." haunt my mind...Beautiful piece...
  
  
• 
  LeanneBridgewater
  March 9, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  War genre! Clever and interestin, your poems are good! Keep them up.
  
  Please visit my site: www.freewebs.com/poetryofemotion/index.htm
• 
  Mark Rickerby
  March 9, 2006
  Edit | Reply
  Hi Linda,
  
  Actually, I said it takes inhumanity, not compassion, to end a war. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for instance. Who knows what Japan had in store for America before those two death blows. Wars can't be fought halfway. As a friend and war veteran on this site (Chuck Johnson) said under this piece, "As soon as the first shot is fired, politics go out the window. It becomes personal." Once the war begins, there is no room for compassion toward the other side. The side who wins is the side willing to do the most unthinkable acts. The only hope we have of avoiding the horror and madness of war is to act with compassion toward the world in general. Unfortunately, human beings are volatile creatures and if you help one country, you piss off another. I was always amazed during my travels to find that the people who hated each other the most were usually the ones who lived closest to each other. i.e., the Italians hate the Greeks, the Danes hate the Swedes, the Irish hate the English, and vice versa. (Very generally speaking, of course. Most get along fine.) It seems familiarity really does breed contempt. So America's friends are enemies of plenty of other countries, but if we abandoned all our friends and became friends with their enemies, we'd be hated by someone else. And we can't be friends with everyone and ignore the evil they in the name of a head in the sand kind of peace. Human life on this planet is a mess any way you slice it.
  
  Thanks for your thoughts on this. I appreciate it.
  
  Mark
  
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 9, 2006
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  shastadaisey,
  
  Thanks for featuring this. I appreciate it. As you know, I usually defend righteous wars. i.e., wars that take murderous maniacs out of power. However, I don't believe there is any real "glory" in killing. There is glory in rescuing people from decades of oppression and receiving sincere thanks and hugs, but killing is ugly and horrific and does nothing but harm to the soul, even if the person one is killing is morally repugnant.
  
  I just wish a day would come when every country would see eye-to-eye on everything, stop considering themselves superior to others in terms of religion, form of government, etc., and denounce terrorism and violent conflict under any circumstances, but I don't think that will ever happen with a race of creatures bristling with pride, hatred and anger, so armed conflict will always be a hard fact of human life, as it always has been. It's ironic, but the soldiers who obviously do the actual killing are the most innocent. They never start the wars. The lunatics who threaten the rest of the world with WMD's do, then the soldiers are sent in to stop them, and wars typically get messier than anyone intended or hoped, which leads to quagmires and more casualties, until one day, everyone is fed up with it finally, glutted with blood until they can't take any more, and the war ends, until next time.
  
  Thanks again, dear friend.
  
  Mark
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 9, 2006
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  Thanks, Nanette.
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 9, 2006
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  lonely black heart,
  
  As my author comments stated, this is not autobiographical. It's written from the perspective of a soldier. However, if I was a soldier, I'd be offended by your remark, "You have killed so many and if you were at home, you would be locked away, but because you are in a war zone, you are rewarded. I am sorry for you."
  
  You're only 15 so I'll cut you some slack, but someday you'll learn that there are very bad people in this world who need to be stopped, people like Adolf Hitler who would have killed everybody on earth who wasn't part of his "master race" if we and others hadn't stopped him at a great personal cost. There is immoral violence (Hitler) and there is moral violence (killing Hitler). Except for a few psycho's and corporations that profit from war, everyone hates war, especially the soldiers who are risking their lives, but sometimes it is necessary in this world. Evil exists. There has been a battle between darkness and light since time began, and good people have had to go against their own natural character and love of peace to protect innocent people from them. It's sad and tragic, but necessary.
  
  I hope you'll re-think comparing what a soldier does to a civilian indiscriminately killing people. Fighting terrorists (which our liberal media insist on calling "insurgents") is not the same thing.
  
  Here's a question for you -
  
  If a terrorist ran into your classroom with a bomb strapped to his chest and was threatening to blow himself up along with you and the rest of your class, and you had a gun in your hand, what would you do if you saw him reaching for the button? Would you save your class and yourself, or would you die cooperatively in the name of peace? That's what's happening right now. The terrorists want to and are desperately trying to put together a nuclear bomb to destroy America with. If they are left alone and ignored, they will fulfill that dream.
  
  Many people are interpreting this as an anti-war poem. It's not. I do believe we should avoid war at all costs and exhaust peaceful alternatives and negotiation as much as possible, but there are people running countries who are murdering their own in massive numbers, and who have a deep desire to destroy America and the ability to do it. As 9/11 proved, ignoring them and hoping they'll leave us alone is not an option.
  
  Thanks for your thoughts on this. Please don't take any of this as an attack against you. I'm just sharing a few ideas.
  
  Take care,
  
  Mark
• bluelion
  March 9, 2006
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  one awesome poem

  My uncle served in the army for many years and yes it did take a toll on his soul. Very Very Awesome
• monroejoe
  March 9, 2006
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  I read your poem and it was well done.There is always thousands of question when one reads something like this so I'll just say my prayers and thoughts are with you. You are what this country (right or wrong) is all about and when you quit caring we are all in deep trouble.
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  Jahdals gurl
  March 9, 2006
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  VERY GOOD POEM
• buffytheparrotslaye
  March 9, 2006
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  And this is War

  And you put yourself with dignity and clarity into the mind of the soldier who must daily do battle with those who are assumed enemies but gradually he will learn so much more.The heat,the dust the relentless sun and the meglomaniacal leaders have made these people what they are.I live in the Middle East,have been here for over twenty years and what drives them is despair.No hope for the future,death of many family members.The ironic point is that there was more peace before the word "Peace"was casually tossed around.
  Thank you for understanding,a superb Poem.Elizabeth.
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  lonely black heart
  March 9, 2006
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  I am a fifteen year old girl who has her own views on war. I see no point. I have always believed that there was no point to bring god in on yout side, because he is on theirs as well. I am sorry that you have had to go to the war and see the things you have seen. Both my parents were in the army, and I see what it does to people. I hope that you over come. You have killed so many and if you were at home, you would be locked away, but because you are in a wa zone, you are rewarded.
  
  I am sorry for you.
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  shastadaisey123
  March 9, 2006
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  excellent

  Dear Mark, if you have ever read any of my poetry you know my views on war, more specifically Vietnam, because I lived (and a part of my life died) because of this politicl saga and I often fear we are returning to the same scenario...yet, are our children our famalies strong enough to take the remnants of this new conflict and piece lives back together? I wonder, I worry, I pray..this is an excellent piece and should win Gold and be read by all...I am going to feature it for a few clicks..we all know that knowledge is power, perhaps knowledge can also be our savior
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  Nanette
  March 9, 2006
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  Awesome

  All I can say, yet another masterpiece!!! Brilliant!!
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 8, 2006
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  Thank you.
• afro queen
  March 8, 2006
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  This was great.It never really caught me , how war can so badly hurt a person. Thanks to you I look at war a whole different way. I can't wait to see more of your work.Excellent Job!
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 8, 2006
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  I wouldn't be too hard on yourself about not asking your relatives about the war. Most veterans I've known don't want to talk about it, so you probably didn't ask because you sensed they didn't want to be asked. When I hear someone telling war stories excessively, I start thinking they're lying. For people who have really been knee deep in it, the last thing they want to do is put their mind back there again. That is, they've seen so much darkness and pain, they only have room in their hearts for light and happiness. I'm sure you were a joy to them. That's what matters.
  
  Thanks for reading and for your kind words.
  
  Mark
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 8, 2006
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  Hi Sharon,
  
  Thanks so much for your kind and beautiful words, especially the thoughts your mother shared with you.
  
  As in WWII, I believe there are times when evil people and naked aggression need to be stopped and war becomes unavoidable and necessary, but the necessity of it does not negate or prevent the damage it does to one's soul, even the victors.
  
  Thanks again. Always great to hear from you.
  
  Mark
  
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  Sharon Corr
  March 8, 2006
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  Mark Beautifully and Passionately Penned
  My heart stops and bleeds thrice
  Within your truthful insight
  I’ve wept in these same questions all my life.
  In my mothers words “ we have learned nothing since the first Holocaust”
  Forgiven or forgotten after this reality shock any soul is lost
  Who can justify the stark reality of the blackness of war, what is the cost?
  You write with powerful mega force brilliance metered in lyrical excellence.
  Any person who has been in a war can relate to your moonlight elegy.
  The lyrics penned by Garth Brooks I’ve never read before
  Now the meaning rains down much clearer on my shores.
  Thank you for this gift. I asked my mother how did she recover from the scars of war. She replied, “Where there is life there is hope.”
  The imagery is mournful and reflective of the horror this young soldier has seen. I would sum up a mournful lament, A “Requiem for the Masses”.
  
  “But today, a woman squeezed my hand and said “thank you”
  I’ll remember that moment whenever I need to be strong.”:
  
  
  Edited on Mar 08, 2:26 p.m. because ''.
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  Mark Rickerby
  March 8, 2006
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  Great point, Chuck, and as a veteran, I know that you know that to be true better than anyone here. With the respect and gratitude I hope you know I have for you, I don't see the subject of this poem as thinking in political terms as much as humanistic terms. In fact, it was partially inspired by a soldier in Iraq I saw being interviewed who said, "You can't kill someone without killing part of yourself." It's sort of the same message as that Garth Brooks song Belleauwood, too. In case you haven't heard it, here are the lyrics -
  
  Oh, the snowflakes fell in silence
  Over Belleau Wood that night
  For a Christmas truce had been declared
  By both sides of the fight.
  
  As we lay there in our trenches
  The silence broke in two
  By a German soldier singing
  A song that we all knew.
  
  Though I did not know the language,
  The song was "Silent Night"
  Then I heard my buddy whisper,
  "All is calm and all is bright."
  
  Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
  'Cause I'd die if I was wrong
  But I stood up in my trench
  And I began to sing along.
  
  Then across the frozen battlefield
  Another's voice joined in
  Until one by one each man became
  A singer of the hymn.
  
  Then I thought that I was dreaming
  Fo