Haditha

Men drive down
A silent road
Their hides are brown
Their wives to be widowed

A marine corporal is dead
From a road side bomb
In the wake of his bloodshed
Will rage a new type of pogrom

The car rolls to a halt
Meal soars through the air
Blood covers the asphalt
Contrary to the laws of warfare

The order is given
“These sand niggers will pay”
All present must have doubted
But pressed on to obey

First was a young daughter
Who fought to survive
Here began the slaughter
Of Haditha, 2005

From their it spread
Throughout the town
24 innocent dead
Before sundown

But who is at fault
When a man trained to unflinchingly kill
Must suddenly halt
Of his own free will

With a good friend dead
In plain sight
Murder one normally dreads
Begins to seem light

Too much was asked
Of men too young
Powerful criminals are masked
Still praised and sung

But in this tragedy
What America must see
Is that our occupation kills not just in Haditha
But civilians daily