[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12746]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WAR IS ALWAYS SHOCK AND AWE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MAJOR R. OWENS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2003

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, Secretary Rumsfeld's announcement a few 
months ago that the war in Iraq would be won by the application of 
``shock and awe'' was not the revelation of a new and innovative 
weapon. Shock and awe has always been the dominant feature of war. 
Indeed war itself is inevitably traumatic; when there is death and 
killing there is automatic and excruciating shock and awe. Part of the 
power of the early witch doctors was derived from the grotesque mask 
they wore. Roman armor was designed not merely to protect soldiers but 
also to frighten the enemy. Viking ships had monstrous images carved on 
their masts to terrify their victims before attacking. Hitler's 
Luftwaffe planes from the air with bombs slaughtered the Polish cavalry 
charging forward on their obsolete white horses. The Russians employed 
a monster tank that made even the cold blooded Nazis cringe with fear. 
And, of course, nuclear war is the ultimate shock and awe. When we 
announce shock and awe as a great accomplishment there is a danger that 
we will grossly mislead our youth. There is nothing glorious and 
splendid about shock and awe. War is at best a necessary evil. The war 
against Iraq is an unnecessary evil. The following Rap poem seeks to 
expose the horror of Shock and Awe:

                             Shock and Awe

     See the devil's claw--
     Thunder lightning death!
     American Satan certified,
     Fiery werewolf's paw,
     Welcome the witch's law.
     Shock and Awe!
     God gave Lucifer
     The outrage sign--
     No more floods,
     Generals in charge this time.
     Military hi-tech games
     Smoke and flames
     Tomahawks never error
     Now the screech of terror!
     O say can you hear
     Like hysterical chickens
     Enemy families scrambling
     With their foreign fear.
     Target with the drone
     Then melt the ancient stone;
     Ignore the pope
     Burn infant hope.
     Apologize for the human stew:
     Brains fried
     Glands crisp dried
     Ears toasted
     Thighs roasted
     Blood and skin
     For savage sausage;
     Barbecue ageing sages
     Too old to flee,
     Dracula's banquet served free.
     America stands by what it said--
     Every Iraqui orphan will be fed;
      Salute the red white and blue--
     Liberation will surely come true.
     With Shock and Awe
     We decree new orders--
     We reserve the right
     To draw new borders.
     Bagdad is burning,
     For Damascus
     We are yearning,
     On the table Tehran too,
     Salute almighty red white and blue.
     Color the sky red
     Pray for the collateral dead,
     Ingest civilization raw,
     Taste unpolluted steaming
     Shock and Awe!
     Entice priests away from popes,
     Humiliate polyglot UN dopes;
     Shove Paris onto the track,
     Watch Moscow at our back;
     Ambitious Shiites should cross no border;
     Shock and Awe
     Is the new world order!
     See the devil's claw
     Fiery werewolf's paw
     Welcome the witch's law.
     Shock and Awe!
     Shock and Awe!

                          ____________________