I was 12 (March 2003)

I was 12,
‘Shock and Awe’ ,
my first images of war,
explosions,
fire lighting up the night sky,
Baghdad burning.

I was 12 at the time,
yet I remember hearing of sexed up dossiers,
claims of WMDs,
and I wondered why.
The invasion, the devastation, prisoners tortured,
endless stories of death, why?

Casus belli was built on a lie,
instead of uncovering weapons of mass destruction,
we uncovered weapons of mass deception.
Unleashed, Sectarian conflicts that never cease,
did we create a desolation but call it peace?

Time made me more sceptical,
Like a 12 year old we grew worldly wise,
yet the question remains, why?
A war no-one wanted,
2 million marching for peace through the streets to defy,
so why did we go to war, why?