Aggression

Our only response is a knee-jerk reaction

To the civilians killed by a terrorist faction

In a rain of bombs to destroy and to burn

In which we will kill their innocent’s in turn

There are alternative strategies to take

Cut off the money for oil trades they make

And to take away routes by which they are armed

Would ensure that no ordinary people are harmed

Bombs don’t win wars, they’ve not done so before

History is a thing that you can’t just ignore

If anything it steeled the population’s resolve

The spirits of London and Dresden didn’t dissolve

And what is winning, in this situation

There’s no thought to the future Syrian nation

Two years past we were told that the man was very bad

And now we’re coming in on the side of Assad

We’ve not learned the lessons of 2003

When we toppled Saddam with victorious glee

Only to create a vacuum of power

And a situation we’ve caused to turn rather sour

And will we be safer any more than we were

Or will this be a reason they can use as a spur

“They want to destroy us”; “Let’s give them fear”

They’ll be ready to tell whoever will hear

So why not try peace, once and for all

Although this may be an unpopular call

For the hawks of this world whose shout is the same

As if the murder of anyone is nothing more than a game

I’m sad it’s not the outcome for which I have yearned

And that we’ve proved once again that we have not learned

Despite having gone through supposed civilising years

Aggressive reactions end in nothing but tears