Posted by CODEPINK Staff
(Dedicated to Medea Benjamin and CODEPINK)
The video warrior arrives in the early hours
Ready for a grueling day beside his computer towers
For he’s the pilot of a General Atomics Predator Drone
Ready to send a missile into someone’s home
Firmly planted behind the flat screen monitor
From a hidden bunker in Nevada he can scan
The ground for child, woman or man.
Then with a push of a button he can
Disintegrate his victim according to plan
By launching a rocket of immense power and lethality--
Never mind the flagrant lack of morality.
B52s in Viet Nam unleashed bombs from 36,000 feet.
But the kid in Nevada has got this beat
He kills his victims from the other side of the world.
And keeps safe the “heimat” with flag unfurled
And of course his high value targets are never in error
And he always delivers their deserved terror
But when the intelligence is wrong
He must be stoic and strong and play along
That there is no collateral damage
For denial is an emotional advantage
No his conscience is clear
Ah, but that is just the point –I fear
For conscience is what is lacking here
And this ghastly deed has the feel
Of an impersonal game; but with victims quite real.
So what does he say on arriving home to his wife?
That he had spent a day in continuous strife?
And what does he to his kids cheerfully say
When they ask “Daddy” what did you do today?
No one has to be conditioned to kill
And block out those emotions at will
And dissociate from the victims all sense of humanity
But isn’t this a form of insanity.
For people the world over want –and I know I am not wrong
To live, to love and to watch their children grow strong
Which is why CodePink toils to end war
And rid the world of this terrible horror.
HP Charman MD
3-24-09 to 10-30-2013
