The Butcher of Srebrenica
I attended a 21st memorial service three weeks ago for the victims of the massacres and spoke to survivors – their harrowing tales were unbelievably heart-wrenching. I reposted my angry song (accurate according to the survivors) about the nationalism that led to this and the inaction by the UN.
Such a blood-stained monstrous creature
He’s the Butcher of Srebrenica
He tips his hat at the hookless meat
War widows walk on bleeding feet
He swears to God and takes their lives
Mere shadows on his cleansing knives
Hatred drips from his country’s flag
He wipes the counter with this bloodied rag
Rips son from sister, men from wives
And justifies their shortened lives…
“Then I hear the sirens call
The bullets fly and the bombs they fall
I hear them call for national pride
What they mean is GENOCIDE….“
Such a blood-soaked monstrous creature
He’s the Butcher of Srebrenica
Spritius Sanctus; the Devil toasts
He tips his hat at eight thousand ghosts
His comrades draw on their crackling skin
As their hatred boils the blood within
Tito’s shadow cries in vain
As slaughter stalks the land again
The deepest ditch and the mourning field
Day by day, their secrets yield…
“Then I hear the sirens call
Bullets fly and the bombs they fall
Then I hear the ghosts inside
Crying out against GENOCIDE….”
Such a blood-soaked monstrous creature
He’s the Butcher of Srebrenica…
Dutch auctions held in brutal times
As their soldiers danced in their conga lines
Sarajevo was a mortal hell
With sniper, tank and mortar shell
The judges rise as the decades pass
And the Butcher stands in court at last
He smiles his smile and he bows his head
To tip his hat at ten thousand dead…
He’s the Butcher of Srebrenica
Such a blood-soaked monstrous creature…
(c) Paul D E Mitchell – all lyrics, instruments and vocals by Paul D E Mitchell – PRS protected
A powerful piece, Mitch, about a shocking moment in Europe’s recent history. Where were the Yanks and the Brits then, I wonder… I suppose it didn’t help that our Prime Minister at the time was John Major.
I sometimes think people are doomed to repeat these kinds of atrocities for all time. So many people disagree with war and yet it persists as a disease around the world. The selfish few at the top care not for the likes of ordinary folk. That is the real problem.
Thanks, Archie – this situation rotted for years for the very same reason Syria is rotting to death. Russia and the US were at an impasse with their proxies so the civil wars ground on.
This is powerful. “I hear them call for national pride, What they mean is GENOCIDE….”
Thanks, jay – Hope you liked the music too! History repeats it self as farce and then repeats it again as a sick joke!
Yes, it was the Dutch UN soldiers who, in an impossible situation, were passive observers to the atrocities, too scared to act because of threats to their own lives if they intervened, and probably with only a remit to be “peacekeeping” without a defensive or offensive role apart from own self-protection. As Yugoslavia broke up, religious differences that old Tito had held in secular harmony, came to the fore, Serbian orthodox church, Muslim, and Catholic, all plying for power, independence, and an own National identity, with atrocities committed by all. Yes, when countries formed by old historic unions fall apart,… Read more »
you got the reference – the global shame traumatised the Dutch people and the soldiers themselves – the strongman: Tito, Putin, Gaddafi, Hussein were brutal but their aftermaths were more brutal still! http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/srebrenica-20-years-after-the-genocide-the-dutch-peacekeepers-still-haunted-by-memories-of-the-10378913.html
Mitch,
My feelings about the UN would have me arrested.
Now they are raping kids in Africa.
I hear you loud and clear. A powerful poem that deserves to be heard.
Alison x
Hi Alison! The UN is a huge organisation but the composite troops are extremely variable depending on the discipline and conditions of the supplying nation. Most do well but the Dutch and other soldiers are often in impossible situations but there are UN soldiers who are vile and undisciplined and not just third world nations either. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/06/africa/united-nations-peacekeepers-sexual-abuse/ Howlz!
And the butcher takes the poison at the Hague to end the bloody farce…