Whats with rhyme?
Corporal Joshua Belile of the U.S. Marine Corps is facing flak from the left for his song Hadji Girl in which he renders a light mood to the human collateral damage in an encounter with insurgents (btw, haji or hadji is the slang U.S. soldiers use for Iraq natives, like the Somalian skinnies a la Black Hawk Down). Not suprising. The conclusion that rhyme doesnt go down well with martial affairs was brought home to me last year when my feeble reactionary "poem" (for lack of a lesser word) was shut down on a popular military forum that I had long participated in.
Many discussions on this forum center around current conflicts theatres like Iraq and Afghanistan. One frequent theme of back-slapping among supporters of the war is the killing of Iraqis who are shot at when they approach too close to an armed checkpoint or an APCs (armored personal carriers). APCs carry large signs in English and Arabic warning that anyone approaching near will be shot, and frequently these warnings are realized. The trespassers are all supposed to be insurgents, but after the death of Italian agent Nicola Calipari we know better. Not-so-pretty pictures of the victims are sometimes posted and celebrated. The arrogance in one such discussion motivated me into scribbling an angry poem in reply. Well, it seems the the response obviously pinched some folks, because in a few minutes of the posting moderators had branded me a troll, banned me and locked the thread. The poem went like this:
We are here to help you!
We are here to free you!
We are riding on streets,
Thats YOUR taxes paid for, how sweet!
But if you come close to my armored car,
I will blow you brains FAR!
You were just a regular hadji guy
On your way to work; you werent out to die.
But you didnt see my sign,
So I blew you out of line!
We are here to help you!
We are here to free you!
We put you in a body bag
And posted the pic on an online mag
With the caption "Insurgent taken down with 50 cal"
Now, isnt that swell, pal?
We told your wife and kids some
That you are the cost of their freedom.
We are here to help you!
We are here to free you!
***
The funny thing is that I and others had aired more heretical ideas in regular posts on the forum without raising any eyebrows. Does rhyming your thoughts make them hit harder?
Many discussions on this forum center around current conflicts theatres like Iraq and Afghanistan. One frequent theme of back-slapping among supporters of the war is the killing of Iraqis who are shot at when they approach too close to an armed checkpoint or an APCs (armored personal carriers). APCs carry large signs in English and Arabic warning that anyone approaching near will be shot, and frequently these warnings are realized. The trespassers are all supposed to be insurgents, but after the death of Italian agent Nicola Calipari we know better. Not-so-pretty pictures of the victims are sometimes posted and celebrated. The arrogance in one such discussion motivated me into scribbling an angry poem in reply. Well, it seems the the response obviously pinched some folks, because in a few minutes of the posting moderators had branded me a troll, banned me and locked the thread. The poem went like this:
We are here to help you!
We are here to free you!
We are riding on streets,
Thats YOUR taxes paid for, how sweet!
But if you come close to my armored car,
I will blow you brains FAR!
You were just a regular hadji guy
On your way to work; you werent out to die.
But you didnt see my sign,
So I blew you out of line!
We are here to help you!
We are here to free you!
We put you in a body bag
And posted the pic on an online mag
With the caption "Insurgent taken down with 50 cal"
Now, isnt that swell, pal?
We told your wife and kids some
That you are the cost of their freedom.
We are here to help you!
We are here to free you!
***
The funny thing is that I and others had aired more heretical ideas in regular posts on the forum without raising any eyebrows. Does rhyming your thoughts make them hit harder?
posted by etlamatey at 11:58 AM
<< Home