Collateral Damage

This was never about you,
You just got caught up in the mess;
A civilian caught in the crossfire,
You should have been under house arrest.
Now you're a victim of this war
And I'm the one to blame;
Why didn't you stay where you were,
Then things would be the same?

I knew there'd be some casualties
It is to be expected,
But regrettably, in reality
It's worse than I projected.
To be hit by so-called friendly fire
When you weren't really involved,
Somehow makes the damage higher
And has shaken my resolve.

If I had known the wreckage wrought,
Before embarking on this fight,
I would have stopped before I fought
And tried to make things right.
Any soldier can see the need
For damage limitation;
Now to defeat I will concede
By way of compensation.

Full of regret at this outcome,
Despite tries to disperse the tension;
This calamity would be undone
Without your intervention.
The rescue mission has been revoked,
I've lost what I was fighting for;
We should have retreated when provoked -
I've lost the battle, along with the war.