Michael Hoban, Ph.D.

The only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war. â€" Richard M. Nixon

I

I find it quite depressing - yet I hear it every day,
So many killed or wounded in that land so far away.

Such scenes of great destruction is all we seem to see.
Of course, that's not surprising - it is just reality.

Our leaders used deception just to get that desert oil
And now our soldiers' sacred blood stains that foreign soil.

Arrogance and ignorance now drive our native land
Where leaders think that warfare is the way to play our hand.

II

It does not seem to matter how many innocents are killed
As long as certain pockets of their followers are filled.

We thought this land had always stood for justice and fair play.
But now we see that is not true - PROFIT RULES THE DAY.

The Veep's old firm is out there making money by the ton
And do you think they really care who falls before the gun?

The GOP has always stood for profit in our land.
But profit purchased by our blood? - is that now its new stand?

III

It used to be that principle meant something to us here
Until the present leaders made something very clear.

They will hide behind "democracy" to force others to their will
And it really does not matter how many citizens they kill.

"Family values" they proclaim while remaining very calm.
Of course, it's not their family who face the hidden bomb.

For we are stronger than they are - so that means we are right.
And they must accept our "freedom" - no matter what their plight.

IV

So we send our sons and daughters to a strange land just to die
So that profiteers in our own land can live at a new high.

Is this what freedom really means? - or have I missed the news?
I always thought it really meant a people get to choose.

We do not tell them what they want because we have all the might -
But rather they themselves will say what they think would be right.

For democracy's not something that you ram with your great force
UNLESS FREEDOM JUST MEANS "PROFIT" - then we'll surely "stay the course."

Michael Hoban, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of the City University of NY
He can be reached at mike_hoban@msn.com.