An Iraqi Child Forsees Her Death

I KNOW that they have sealed my fate
Somewhere afar in hallowed halls;
Impending doom invades my hope,
Surrounding me, these fragile walls;
My leader is Iraqis’ shame,
My savior is the Western few,
Whose moral quest lacks true support
Their blood red flags of white and blue.
Democracy by bombed decree,
The generals rule the rubble zones,
The orphaned babies scream in pain
Unheard by roars of liberation’s drones;
Exploding oil fields, chemical destruction,
Toxic promises snake the rivers’ flow
Tigris and Euphrates, cultural abandonment
Amidst missile mayhem, I will go.

Be Ready to Mess with Mesopotamia
By Clinton Fein
February 20, 2003

Dirty Little Dots
By Clinton Fein
October 15, 2002

Engulfed by Tragedy
By Clinton Fein
September 12, 2002

RELATED COVERS

Osama bin Hussein
February 12, 2003

Uncle Saddam
January 29, 2003

End Game
October 10, 2002

New World Attention Deficit Disorder
September 30, 2002

Unbearable Likeness
September 23, 2002

RELATED POSTCARDS

What Reputation?
Uncle Saddam
End Game
New World ADD
Unbearable Likeness

He refused an invitation from anti-war Labour MP Alice Mahon to speculate about the number of Iraqi civilian casualties that may result from a war, and refused point blank to answer questions from Peter Kilfoyle and Tam Dalyell on how evidence given to the UN inspectors by the UK suggesting illegal imports of uranium from Nigeria was found to have been faked. Pressed by Mr Kilfoyle on the origins of Iraq's suspected Anthrax, Mr Straw conceded that "it was wrong of the US to supply it - but worse of Iraq to hang on to it."
Straw: Saddam facing final deadline, The Guardian, March 10, 2003

Tony Blair's closest political ally, Peter Mandelson, today rounded on Clare Short, the international development secretary, in an effort to minimise the impact of her threat to resign over Iraq...But the intervention of Mr Mandelson will be seen by many as suggesting that Ms Short's cabinet career is now over, whether it ends by her resignation, or sacking by the prime minister.
Matthew Tempest, Mandelson joins attack on Short, The Guardian, March 10, 2003

Russia said flatly today that it would vote against a revised United Nations resolution giving Iraq until March 17 to show convincing evidence of disarmament or face military action, signaling that a weekend of American lobbying for the proposal had come to naught. In a speech here, Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov said Russia "did not hear serious arguments for the use of force" in Friday's climactic session of the Security Council, during which the United States said that the existing resolution demanding that Iraq disarm had proven too weak. Michael Wines, Russia Says It Will Vote Against U.S.-Backed Resolution on Iraq, The New York Times, March 10, 2003

I KNOW that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My county is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.

W.B. Yeats, An Irish Airman Forsees His Death, September 1918