projecting force

John Bolton's out; his schemes for war roll on
his acolyte O'Brien stays the course.
The planet's ills are all  blamed on Iran
on data misinterpreted, or worse.
A dozen players want to see this fight
from Netanyahu to the MEK.
The  surge in crude oil prices seems alright
if your exporting and not in the fray.
Iranians just want to live their lives;
the Mullahs kept the bargain, for their part
Obama's pact was scrapped by 45
It's not the Persians acting black at heart.
Domestic politics drive the world scene
demanding victims to the War Machine.

false flag

The Persian War that Netanyahu needs
would launch from Washington; he'd leave no trace.
Let Trumpty take the credit for the deed!
One strike could throw the key Knesset race.
His buddy Mr. BoneSaw mustn't know
who struck ARAMCO's oil refinery.
He's pre-convinced the Mullahs are his foe
and wouldn't catch the sort of treachery.
The arms the Houthis think came from Iran
with paperwork attesting it's for them
may not originate in Teheran;
return address is West Jerusalem.
Like Bibi used Dick Cheney once before
salvation for Likud needs us at war.

Autocrats united

Prince Bone-Saw's Putin's foremost fan and friend;
assassinating journalists' their lark.
Executives who serve their private ends
conspire to keep the public in the dark.
The age of Erdogan, and Trump, and Xi
is hostile to the public's need to know.
This darkest chapter of our history
evokes John Adams centuries ago.
Now, Trump's proposed a Pravda for TheStates
with editorials tuned to his eyes.
Pontificating "Trade Wars Make Us Great!"
rewriting news to promulgate his lies.
There's no way forward from our present mess
if Trump can meddle freely with our Press.

high stakes

binSalman brooks no rein on what he'd do
his father's only king in name alone.
He's moribund, and seems to have no clue
of what's been going on behind his throne.
Khashoggi dared to criticize the state;
he printed what no Saudi's free to say.
The prince's thugs minced him like fishing bait;
Ankara's sewers flushed the bits away.
Such drama's damaging the royal brand;
investors shun the grisly atmosphere.
There're cousins far more fit for the command,
who know there's more to governing than fear.
When Salman dies, it all comes to a head
and MbS must then be king--or dead.

Fourth Estate

binSalman murders with impunity
since Jared knelt, and kissed his gaudy ring.
This most selective goy fraternity,
grants special access to the Saudi king.
Khashoggi got dismembered; parts were shipped
to sun-bleached deserts, where the birds of prey
make sport of what should lie in some dark crypt.
Piecemeal, the prince's critics melt away.
This White House can't pretend to give a fig
if journalists abruptly disappear
Trump's sympathies lie wholly with the pig;
FreePress is nothing autocrats hold dear.
Niemoeller warned, they'll take us, one by one
if we don't drag their crime out to the sun.

mobsters II

binSalman  buffed up Jared's self-esteem
while pumping him for key intelligence
implying coyly they could be a team
benevolent in their world-dominance.
The list of cousins who might want him dead
convinced the princeling that he had to act
sweet pillow-talk to swap while they're in bed

he swallowed rumors as established fact.
binMuqrin's 'copter bit the dust in flames
implicit threat to daunt the royal brood.
The Ritz filled up as Jared named more names,
 with thumb-screws to establish the right mood.
Two greed heirs want more than daddy got
displaying ethics that would shock PolPot.

cute couple II

The Saudi prince took Jared by the hand
and set his preppy heart afluttering.
A captive vassal, at his lord's command
to think his boyfriend might soon be the king!
The names of cousins who might pose a threat
he passed along as token of his trust
a trifling crime for shoring up his bet
his money's on Mohammed, win or bust.
Qatari banks that blocked his forward path
as loans came due, and Jared felt the rub
must feel the awesome royal Saudi wrath.
Huge wet-dream for this passive skinny schlub.
Two scheming parasites on others' work
compete for global honors as top jerk.

cute couple

The Saudi prince took Jared by the hand
and set his preppy heart afluttering.
A captive vassal, at his lord's command
to think his boyfriend might soon be the king!
The names of cousins who might pose a threat
he passed along as token of his trust
a trifling crime for shoring up his bet
his money's on Mohammed, win or bust.
Qatari banks that blocked his forward path
to bridge old loans as they were coming due
must feel the awesome royal Saudi wrath.
Huge wet-dream for this passive skinny Jew.
Two scheming parasites on others' work
compete for global honors as top jerk.

mobsters

binSalman  buffed up Jared's self-esteem
while pumping him for key intelligence
implying coyly they could be a team
benevolent in their world-dominance.
The list of cousins thinking of a coup
convinced the princeling that he had to act
when murmured sweetly by his favorite Jew
he swallowed rumors as established fact.
binMuqrin's 'copter bit the dust in flames
implicit threat to daunt the royal brood.
The Ritz filled up as Jared named more names,
 with thumb-screws to establish the right mood.
Two greed heirs want more than daddy got
displaying ethics that would shock PolPot.

Espionage Act

binSalman says his buddy, Jared shared
the names of princes likely to dispute
his claim, who'd press their cases, if they dared
if he would not pre-empt, and prosecute.
A toddler proud to wave his shiny toy
must not be given heavy armament;
no way Trump's son-in-law should still enjoy
the sensitive IP of government.
Two heirs to privilege, convinced they're hot,
conspiring how they'll make the world their own,
as if they'd earned the influence they've got,
and Destiny intends them for the throne.
Twin comic footnotes, in the eyes of Time,
believe they're heroes in their own wee minds.

revenge

Hariri's back, Beirut can speculate
what had allayed the fear that made him quit.
Hezbollah's still a martial pseudo-state
that keeps a list of enemies to hit.
Assad--who whacked Rafiq--is still at large.
It takes no genius to connect the dots.
but now, his capo Putin's taken charge
Bashar may not be free to call the shots.
Saad, himself, may answer to Riyadh;
the Lebanese arrangement's byzantine
its linkages are only known to God
our spies do what they can, from what they glean.
Assad's a fool to stick to the old tune
Hariri thinks himself the star of 'Dune'.

famous for 15 minutes

binSalman struts his hour upon the stage
as if the kingdom just awaits his plan
so confidant that--at his tender age--
the world acknowledges that he's the man.
His cousins weigh his slender resume
and mark both Syria and Yemen red.
Those ventures manifestly did not pay
unless you monetize the heaps of dead.
binMuqrin's helicopter got shot down
all hands were lost in empty seas of sand.
But throngs of cousins still could claim the crown;
it's nearly bottomless, this royal band.
King Salman's old, and evidently ill
with regal legions to contest his will

power play

binSalman treats his office like a toy,
to kill one rival, and beat others down.
Appalling powers to vest in a boy
who's next in line to bear the Saudi crown.
Mansour--we think--perceived his cousin's plan
and so, was marked as one who had to die.
His pilot sleeps beside him in the sand;
their helicopter fell out of the sky.
ARAMCO's IPO's been cast in doubt
the public trusts him less than his close kin
who're smuggling the ryals they've gathered out;
investors aren't pumping money in.
Too eager to establish a great name,
he's lost sight of the purpose of the game.

high stakes

binSalman feared a coup was in the cards
but figured he'd forestall it by his wits.
He placed his royal cousins under guards
as non-consensual guests at the Ritz.
Democracy's not fostered by the gun.
He's seized their assets, not their loyalty.
His claim's unsure as Salman's youngest son;
most princes can post more securities.
Aramco's IPO is looking grim
as Saudis smuggle assets out the door.
The kings economists can't lie to him;
the nation's wealth's increasingly off-shore.
The odds are long for such a petro-state,
that bets its fortune on one gambler's fate.

Game of Thrones

binSalman's cousins found he was unfit
and judged Mansour would make the better king.
binMuqrin's helicopter took the hit
and aviation fails, without a wing.
The Yemen quagmire has no end in sight
yet Lebanon's a place he might prevail
fourth times the charm, to prove his army's might
but nothing he's launched yet has failed to fail.
An autocrat the Kushners'd recognize
has gathered all State powers in his mitts
dissent's dismissed--officially--as "lies"
for dissidents: Free Lodging at the Ritz!
So many princes! It's not clear just who
must save Arabia through a new coup.

after Salman

bin-Salman's resume's too thin and short
to justify succession to the throne
a hundred older cousins at the court
have references lined up of their own
the Yemen quagmire can't produce a win
Farouk got toppled while he mucked about
it's easy shipping foreign armies in
but Hell's to pay to bring live soldiers out
to mess with Qatar risks new Arab splits
demolishing what Nasser had begun
the Umma fragmented to feuding bits
and evidence is scant that he's the one
his generation's never worn the crown
but this first trial balloon is going down