Our War

On the question of whether
Iraq was a threat
I would say not
weapons of mass destruction having been
too broadly defined, well beyond
the nuclear bomb.
The administration, however, thought otherwise
and Congress duly authorized
deploying the military abroad.
If we believe this was a fatally flawed decision
then we must examine our own system of government
(electoral college, campaign finance, term limits, gerrymandering, two parties win all)
which may itself be
too flawed
for honest deliberation to beget wise decisions.

The other question, bringing by force
freedom to the oppressed
and genocidally attacked
raises the greatest possible issues for an international order
founded, following a world war,
to maintain the power of the victors.
Can America, like Washington (George),
refuse a throne?
What human rights are sacred natural law
to which sovereignty is secondary
and which the world will defend no matter where or when?
What constitutes consent of the governed
and will unelected leaders be given the same voice in the same councils
as the elected?
Who, among the nations, will give up the veto
and categorical claims to sovereignty
standing by the world's decisions, following deliberation,
even when they're wrong?

In our war
more children may have died
than would have
had Saddam died
of natural causes.
We can never know
because we're here.