The Sheep Dogs

The following poem is by a Vietnam veteran named Russ Vaughn. GOC in Winston Salem, author of the Obnxious Dropping's Blog, suggested reading this poem on Inidgo's Insights Blog.

The Sheep Dogs

Most humans truly are like sheep,
Wanting nothing more than peace to keep.
To graze, grow fat and raise their young,
Sweet taste of clover on the tongue.
Their lives serene upon Life’s farm,
They sense no threat nor fear no harm.
On verdant meadows, they forage free
With naught to fear, with naught to flee.
They pay their sheepdogs little heed
For there is no threat; there is no need.

To the flock, sheepdogs are mysteries,
Roaming watchful round the peripheries.
These fang-toothed creatures bark, they roar
With the fetid reek of the carnivore,
Too like the wolf of legends told,
To be amongst our docile fold.
Who needs sheepdogs? What good are they?
They have no use, not in this day.
Lock them away, out of our sight;
We have no need of their fierce might.

But sudden in their midst a beast
Has come to kill, has come to feast.
The wolves attack; they give no warning
Upon that calm September morning.
They slash and kill with frenzied glee
Their passive helpless enemy
Who had no clue the wolves were there
Far roaming from their Eastern lair.
Then from the carnage, from the rout,
Comes the cry, “Turn the sheepdogs out!”

Thus is our nature but too our plight
To keep our dogs on leashes tight
And live a life of illusive bliss,
Hearing not the beast, his growl, his hiss.
Until he has us by the throat,
We pay no heed; we take no note.
Not until he strikes us at our core
Will we unleash the Dogs of War
Only having felt the wolf pack’s wrath
Do we loose the sheepdogs on its path.
And the wolves will learn what we’ve shown before;
We love our sheep, we Dogs of War.

Reading this poem made me think of all of our soldiers over in Iraq. It especially made me think of the U.S. Marine who shot and killed a wounded Iraqui terrorist inside of a mosque in Fallujah. The media has been all over this. They have shown an edited version of the video. Although I do agree that there should be an investigation into this matter, I don't like the ASSumptions and comments that have been made regarding this incident. Here are some facts about the incident:

• Amnesty International has reported that the Iraqi terrorists have illegally used white flags to lure coalition forces into ambushes.
• The Marine seen shooting on the videotape had been wounded in the face the day before.
• Within hours of the videotaped incident in the mosque, another Marine was killed and five others wounded by a booby-trapped body they found in a house after a gunfight.

Everyone should read Oliver North's article about this incident to get the full story. I support our troops and I believe that after the investigation, this Marine will be found innocent.