The butchered, bloody corpses of her family fill the road
Where half-mad snarling dogs
Are tearing flesh from off their bones
Blood runs from a gash above her ear
Left for dead with her baby girl
And paralyzed by fear
And she can see the firelight reflected by the blades
As they rise and fall and fall and rise
And rise ---- to fall again

Silently she watches the militia search for prey
Flames rise up from her neighbor¹s house
As they stand outside and wait
And when three small children run outside
Two are shot and one is stopped
By a blade between the eyes
And she can see the firelight reflected by the blades
As they rise and fall and fall and rise
And rise ---- to fall again

Then Romeo is calling
It's the middle of the night
The barometer is falling
He wants to do what's right
To try to stop the killing
To seize the guns and blades
He's ready and he's willing
But Iqbal Riza says...

"I will pass this on to Koffi
But there are things that you don't know
Belgium is unwilling
America just says, "No"
And the French have their own interests
There's no need to interfere
This is just a tribal skirmish
At least that much is clear

But he can see the firelight reflected by the blades
As they rise and fall and fall and rise
And rise ---- to fall again

And when he asks for reinforcements
He's told there are none to be had
There's all that trouble in the Balkans
Where things are really bad
So we've redefined your mandate
Now you're just there to observe
Maintain communications
Till we give you the word

But he can see the firelight reflected by the blades
As they rise and fall and fall and rise
And rise ---- to fall again