They Wouldn't Be Fighting At All

Four young Marines
On a roof
Somewhere in Iraq

Four young Insurgents
Down below
Somewhere in Iraq


The Marines are dropping frags
Through holes in the roof
Trying to flush out or kill
The Insurgents below

The Marines fumble and stumble
And discuss what to do
They want to do the job
But without getting hurt

Using their training
Full of the cockiness of youth
And the hardness of veteran Marines
They make their way down a stairwell

Fearful but determined
The Marines fire on the room below
And return-fire drives them up again
As the Insurgents holler, "Allah hu Akbar!"

The Marines make their way down again
But the insurgents
Have moved to another room
Leaving the Marines vulnerable

The Marines leave the house
And decide to "light up the whole place"
Heavier weapons tear the house to pieces
And the Marines return to view the damage

The Insurgents lie dead amongst the rumble
There was no Hollywood glory in this
There was only four young men from the USA
Killing four young men from Iraq

Four young, American men
Turned into hard-asses
Supposedly fighting
For freedom, Democracy, and each other

Four young, Iraqi Insurgents
Turned into fanatics
Supposedly fighting
For freedom, Islam, and each other

It wasn't fancy
It wasn't heroic
It wasn't a big victory
It wasn't for freedom, or God

And if they were really fighting for each other
Then they wouldn't be fighting each other at all
If they were really fighting for each other
Then they wouldn't be fighting at all