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Publication Details |
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Reference |
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van Graan, Mike (2003) Charity begins in your own backyard. Centre for Civil Society : -.
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Summary |
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so it’s off to Baghdad we go
to teach them how to do away with their
weapons of mass destruction
while nature’s weapon of greater destruction
freely roams the hills of KwaZulu Natal
the townships of Johannesburg
the informal settlements of Limpopo
is it time for regime change
so it’s off to Baghdad we go
to teach them how to do away with their
weapons of mass destruction
while nature’s weapon of greater destruction
freely roams the hills of KwaZulu Natal
the townships of Johannesburg
the informal settlements of Limpopo
hollow braggarts
we strut the world stages
boasting of how we did humanity a favour
forsaking the path of inhuman weapons
voluntarily giving up our right to eliminate
hundreds of thousands
while back at home
behind the coffin curtain
courts have to threaten
people have to march
doctors have to risk their jobs
to oblige us to do something
anything
to save our own
to show our humanity
to our neighbours
friends
family
we dilly and dally
no shuttle diplomacy
no urgency
no night long discussions
teleconferences
to devise a plan
to curb a war
to save millions of lives
oh no
we wring our hands
take out newspaper ads
do cost analyses
if only we had the funds
for you see
we’ve spent many millions
invested billions
in weapons of lesser destruction
our hands are tied
if only we could
we’d like to but
at the end of the day
we must be responsible
and so it is that
the Trojan horse of mass destruction
grows among us
thrives among us
takes its toll among us
fostered by denial
nurtured by arrogance
let loose by vanity
of course
if our predecessors had
done what we do
we’d have accused them of racism
piled on the pressure
increased the boycotts
isolated the regime
intensified the armed struggle
for how could they
cynically
callously
coldly
leave so many to die
behind our legitimacy
and the screen of morality
less than a decade after the
miracle birth of the darling nation
lies a tale of shame
of an atrocity being wreaked
on the civilian population
is it time for regime change
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