10 years later

everyone in the world with a pulse knows that it has been
10 years now,
since the big bully of the world
was punched in the stomach---
this was of course a solid punch,
one whose clenched fist of anger had a definitive purpose---
it hit us on “our” land
(land stolen through genocide, whose industry was built through slavery)
it rang true to even the most ignorant
forcing them to ask themselves
“why do they hate us?”
yes, this punch was heard round the world
because for some reason the empire was
believed to be
invincible.

all the while it was beating on those around it
the policeman marched throughout
wielding its heavy baton upon the heads of those that would not do what they were told
beating them into submission
dropping bombs on countries that could not of possibly ever have been a threat
to the way of life
promulgated by the most selfish people on the planet---
us americans,
who demand 85%+ of the natural resources on this planet
to be used within our borders.

so what has been accomplished,
as a result of the onslaught returned by the empire to the voices of the world
it disagrees with?

bin laden is dead.

his dream, however, is very much alive &
what he wanted was to force america to bleed,
fighting endless wars in the middle east---
and with the invasions of iraq & afghanistan costing
6,000 or so american (& ally) soldiers to be killed,
a $4 trillion dollar bill & not to mention the
7.8 million refugees &
“very conservative” estimate of 137,000 civilians killed
in these two wars, as well as in neighboring
pakistan---
in this, he has been quite successful,
albeit posthumously so.
at home,
the citizens of the US have been forced into a state of permanent
paranoia & stress
wherein, the protection of the property within these borders is of utmost priority,
creating 1,200+ government organizations dealing with homeland security &
2,000 private companies as well---
all in the name of keeping the empire strong.

money that could be spent on our crumbling education system,
giving our citizens universal health care,
or bringing us out of
increasing & intensifying
unemployment,
all has been used instead on the attempt at annihilating
an enemy abroad whose number cannot be estimated
whose face cannot be seen &
whose base is not stagnant & therefore cannot be accurately identified,
all in the name of revenge.

though the american populace is supposed to believe that the intent of
iraq’s obliteration was to
“bring democracy” instead of
squeezing the country like a sponge to suck off
every last drop of its oil,
the government that presently exists there under al-maliki
does not consider its relationship with the US a friendly one &
sees its relations with iran as being full of more
possibility.

42 attacks a day is said to be the going rate of
al-qaeda’s vengeance upon the people of iraq & when
the US is pretending that it will leave soon,
the world is watching a powder keg
ready to explode.

so in retrospect,
if you are a citizen of the US,
how exactly do you feel about what has occurred since that horrible
morning?
if you are a citizen of the world outside the borders of the empire
how exactly do you feel about what has happened since the
punch was thrown &
connected?