Lyrics

divide et imperia

Master! Save me!
Remember me, your little Judas in training…
Caesar! Don’t betray me!
I need your strength, my people all hate me!
I had your word, we had a deal!
My allegiance and title for your steel!
I would be lord, I would be king
But the lion is turning and bears his teeth at me!

I seized… opportunity.
Caesar’s icy hand reached out to greet me.
His words… so sweet.
My enemies would grovel at my feet
But now you do not heed me, you do not fear me
And Caesar’s deaf ears no longer hear me
Another chief upon my throne
I beg for mercy in my own home!

Master! Save me!
Remember me your little Judas in training…
Master! Save me! I need your strength, my people hate me!

I should have known and understood
Caesar’s word is never good.
A carnivore’s a carnivore and we know what he came here for.
Avarice and lust! Eyes grow wide!
Obscured shadows at your side!
Wounded, beaten, Caesar’s land: Divide et imperia!
Violence and strength like I’ve never seen
Legions of faithful and war machines
Raining fire from Heaven, cities of dead
Demons eating crude like it was bread!

Divide et imperia is a Roman term for the theory of divide and rule. The basic tenet is that in order for an Empire to extend control effectively into a territory with a historically strong cultural identity, it is necessary to encourage potential internal divisions. The effectiveness of this strategy lies at the core of a very simple principle: if the people would resist us because we are the imperialists they detest, we must foster sectarianism so that they fight each other. This is precisely what has happened in Iraq today. The resistance movement against American imperialism in Iraq has been effectively countered by the splintering of the country into hundreds of primary allegiances and the evisceration of a long-held Iraqi national identity. It has allowed the US to force free-market fundamentalism down the throats of Iraqis and has resulted in one of the biggest economic rip-offs of this century, with no end in sight for an American withdrawal.

This song was initially written as a metaphor for the role of Ahmed Chalabi, the notorious wanna-be president of Iraq, who was so despised by Iraqis that the US had to find another patsy to head the interim Iraqi Governing Council: the CIA asset Iyad Allawi. However, the US has repeatedly utilized numerous Iraqi figureheads, continuously offering support to a range of competing interests, embroiling many in divisive patterns of abuse. Further, in 2004 when John Negroponte, the king of the death squads in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, was appointed ambassador to Iraq, the use of death squads by American-backed Iraqi leaders, including government ministries, became prolific. As a result, these rulers are greatly loathed by many Iraqis and can’t even leave the Green Zone for fear of their lives. This song is really about all of these stooges who think that the Empire will protect them forever.

(Marek Vermin)