In 1990-1991 I wrote a response to Serial Invasions. Iraq's Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait to steal its oil and gas, falling for United States' cats-paw assurance that he could so thieve with impunity, and then the U.S., the United Kingdom, Egypt, France, Canada, et cetera invested more than 300,000 roops and countless Fighter-Jets, Bombers, Missiles, Tanks and Ships into Operations Desert Shield , Desert Storm, and Desert Sabre. Countless civilians died under bombardments and invasions. Countless among the Armed Forces suffered illnesses and early deaths from what became known as 'Guly War Syndrome.' The poem below concludes with a cavalcade of the hopeful resistance and outcomes artising from 'so great a wrong' ... just as resitance and outcomes are arising from the horrifically unjust bombings and invasion now underway in the Gaza Strip. ' [ ... ] / This war a General Strike in Spain / Involves 2 million workers and 2.7 million students. This war / Revolutionaries in Colombia and Peru /Cut off arms and pipelines / Of supranational Corporations. / This war happens / Amid arsenals in Projects. / This war / Is so great a wrong /That what goes around must come round / To blow up in the hands / Of those that started it. / This war / Spreads seeds of rage, sorrow and hope / All over. / This war / Is about our duty / As a people and a species.' The obvious trickery, brutality, and crimes of 'The Persian Gulf War' were one source for the rebellions that fired across the U.S. and othar NATO Nations when Los Angeles' Police were found Innocent after their beating of Rodney King. 'This War [ ... ] was reprinted in the 2002 book Flares, available through My Book Heaven, its Foreword by the activist and artist Matt Gonzalex.
THIS WAR WANTS YOU BACK AGAIN This war with Iraq brings up a lot. This war is about Long-pent sickness now breaking out. This war is about Addiction to attitudes, Behavior and sources of energy That make for MASS DEATH. This war is about More people of color Fighting and dying in far-off sand and mud So that middle-class comforts and ruling-class power May be maintained. This war is about Supporting our troops so that their blood May keep cost of a gallon-of-gas Around $1.00 Back here in the U.S.A. This war about more exploitation. This war that way like past wars. This war is for Corporations' profits. This war is 'a dream' for weapons-makers General Dynamics, McDonnell Douglas, et cetera. This war also about Fluor, Bechtel, etc. Anticipating $20 to $40 million In Contracts to "rebuild" Kuwait. This war firstly About protecting and enriching Corporations That supply oil from the Middle East-- About profits of Chevron, Shell, Amoco, etc. Rising 77% in the last quarter of 1990-- And about George W. Bush Jr.'s Harkan Energy Corporation Keeping the oil concession to Bahrain. 46 _ _ _ _ _ This war is also about Making the U.S. military Gatekeeper to the world's oil supply. This war is also about The West hoping to reapportion the Middle East As after World War I, When "Churchill's hiccup" created Kuwait. This war is also about "Liberating" Kuwait To restore a feudal monarchy That will put women back under yashmaks. This war is also trying To distract a populace "at home" From injustices and inequities That had demanded funds-- "The peace dividend"--for their correction. This war is also about Two gangsters who once were partners Now fighting over spoils. This war, a construction-worker in midnight-hour Bar-talk says: "George Bush ought to be shot For all the people he's killing." This war, an oarsman on the Nile says: "Kill Hussein." This war is also about More lies. This war, ABC is owned by Capital Cities, NBC by General Electric, CBS by Westinghouse. This pre-war, only 1% Of these Big-Three Networks' coverage On "the Gulf crisis" reported opposition to Bush's moves Toward war, while Polls showed 60% to 70% Of the U. S. people favored sanctions instead of war. This war, a New York Timesman says: "I've never seen anything like the degree Of surveillance and control The military has over the correspondents." This war, the public knows less from watching TV. This war, like wars before, Children scream with their skin on fire-- Missiles explode inside bomb shelters-- Crushes die for lack of air-- Neither air, nor wheat, nor water left there-- As droughts grow deeper On overwhelmed Earth. This war is about Several kinds of fix: Our fix for oil (The U.S comprising 4% Of the world's population and 26% Of its consumption of oil per year); The fix we're in Because of dependence on oil; And the inside fix by profiteers That made this war happen-- As in this war The Bush Administration's "energy policy" Is so like the Reagan/Carter Nixon/ Kennedy/ ... /Roosevelt/ ... /Roosevelt Administrations' policies (Making money from exhausting people and resources) As to be one and the same Long-going and ongoing damned thing. While This war’s MASS DEATH Is as far-removed As bombers' radar Or video-game gunners’ FLASHES!--HITS!--BALEEPS! Make mortality, Many in this Nation Led to again celebrate massacres As if they were Super Bowl triumphs-- 48 _ _ _ _ _ And yet this war Is bound to be The foreground for an overturning. This war Is bound to make reversal of its aims. This war Demonstrations in San Francisco, Washington, D. C., Rome, London, Bonn, Of one hundred thousand or more Denounce this war. This war a General Strike in Spain Involves 2 million workers and 2.7 million students. This war Revolutionaries in Colombia and Peru Cut off arms and pipelines Of supranational Corporations. This war happens Amid arsenals in Projects. This war Is so great a wrong That what goes around must come round To blow up in the hands Of those that started it. This war Spreads seeds of rage, sorrow and hope All over. This war Is about our duty As a people and a species.