Rex Andrews sends us a poem from Baume-les-Messieurs, France, hoping to have better luck with it than he did in 1998, when he first offered it to The Friend. 'Maybe it was considered too blatant and hard-hitting then?' suggests Rex, 'but in the current situation – especially with the DESO and the Trident issues – it might be more appropriate?'
Absolutely Rex. We hope readers agree!
Three wise men of the West

I'm an engineer with a safe career
I set up factories everywhere.
A government grant provides the plant,
And I get business where others can't
Because our work’s hush-hush, you see,
For a certain secret ministry.
Some people think the work's a sin;
But, by gum! It brings the profits in!

(refrain)
We three kings of Occident are,
Bearing gifts we travel afar;
Honest traders to invaders,
Furnishing every war.

I’ve a physics degree and a PhD
In some esoteric chemistry;
My inventive mind can always find
Some new device – at a suitable price –
To maim, or gas, or cut, or burn.
It's amazing what a chap can earn
Once he gets himself a plummy perch
In secret armament research.
(refrain)

I'm a marketing man. The world I span
Is from Argentina to Yunnan.
With my business flair, I'm always there
With military ironware.
Wherever there’s a scrap in sight
I’ll sell the goods to help them fight,
From single duels to genocide;
You’ve got the cash? Then we’ll provide!
(refrain)