[Newspoetry] birthday poem

[charles joseph smith]

Because today is my birthday and I hope that a war in Iraq does not come
on that day, I composed a poem called "STAND DOWN".

Remember the movie "Wargames", with its famous line "Recall all the
bombers....Stand down the
missiles!" You get the idea.

                    STAND DOWN

THE U.S. must STAND DOWN on the attempt to wage war on Iraq.
Why?
There are reasons?

STAND DOWN...

For the people in Iraq who have been already injured or maimed by
past U.S. military campaigns.

STAND DOWN...

For the famous people who are against war in Iraq, like Terry Riley and
Susan Sarandon.

STAND DOWN....

For our economy which has been already racked by corporate scandals.

STAND DOWN...

For all of the people who lost their jobs due to the Enron and the
Worldcom debacles.

STAND DOWN...

For all of those people who fear about being drafted.

STAND DOWN...

Because the military campaign in Afghanistan incited possible war with
Iraq.

STAND DOWN...

For all of the people protesting the U.S. Navy military exercises on the
Puerto Rican island of Vieques.

STAND DOWN...

Because of the passsing of the Sedition and Patriot Acts; going to war
with Iraq means those acts will get even tougher.

STAND DOWN...

To prevent possible retaliation from Al-Qaeda and related terrorist
groups.

And finally...

STAND DOWN...

Because Woodrow Wilson tried his best to stand down after the Francis
Ferdinand assassination in Yugoslavia to
avoid U.S. involvement in World War I.

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Charles Joseph Smith
URH, 101 Daniels Hall, 1010 W. Green St., #101
Urbana, IL 61801-3097
cjsmith2 at uiuc.edu
(217)332-2143
http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~cjsmith2/Charles_Home_Page.html
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