Anyone watching could read the wall:
the firing of the JAGs,
the new “warrior ethos,”
the Department of Defense renamed—
back to its truer name,
the Department of War.

This was not mission creep.
This was accelerationism,
and the media ran with it.

And the sea bled oil,
a fleet of small boats shattered,
dozens of hulls splintered, sunk,
not a single flag of war among them.

Opponents mutter constitutionality, legality,
as if parchment binds an empire
that drafts its own commandments,
that has never bowed to law
beyond its borders.

The International Criminal Court?
That’s only for those the U.S. proclaims
to be their adversaries.
The empire didn’t ratify the Rome Statute.
Moreover: it’s all covered
by the Hague Invasion Act.

Nuremberg whispers:
“I was only following orders”
is no defense.
But American imperialism
prints its own absolution,
acting with reckless abandon,
hands out cards—
get out of jail free.

What’s more, 
what’s a little history
if all you have to do
is rewrite it.

Welcome to the new “Peace Through Strength.”
It’s the only way that the empire can win against China—by cheating.
It’s the same old playbook, rebranded.

—Tina Antonis