Battle Sights

Publication Instance Details #2155

Publication Overview

Translation	Is Multilingual	Explicit Irish Context?	Ekphrasis	Has Paratext?	Reference to News, Media or Technology
No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No

Details

Human Rights Issues	War HR Activism/Humanitarian Work
Irish Context	HR-related International Involvement (Ireland)
Languages	English
Genre	Short Lyric
Medium	Print Collection
Paratext Text	Rifleman John Curley, U.N. Observation Post 6-40, Haddathah, Irish Area of Operations, South Lebanon 1989
Notes	This is a poem which laments the senseless loss of life suffered by all sides during the Lebanese conflict, especially that of the peacekeeping troops, who learn early on to use their weapons, despite their 'peacekeeping role'. The poem also mentions, in the third verse, the notorious incident during which 3 Irish soldiers lost their lives when they drove over a landmine in 1989. There is also a mention of a stand-off at a UN checkpoint during which five Irish peacekeepers and two Lebanese resistance fighters are injured and killed respectively. The 'you' addressed in the poem is likely to be Rifleman Curley, mentioned in the paratext. His angry reactions to the killing of peacekeeping troops is reflected upon throughout the poem.