Sunday, August 28, 2005

Thank God I'm Not A Chickenhawk

James Wolcott on the miserably confused concept chickenhawk. (Via Atrios)

I've been meaning to complain about this for some time, and my complaints run deeper than Wolcott's, but right now it's time to write a syllabus. Yay!

Also soon to come: why Operation Yellow Elephant is stupid (though damn funny).

posted by Winston Smith at 9:51 AM

1 Comments:

Blogger matthew christman said...

Here's my thing about the "chickenhawk" question:

I don't think that you can, or should, argue that you have to be a veteran to make military policy, or speak out about military policy or anything else.

But:

Consider that there is a war that you support, say, an occupation of Iraq that you deem utterly crucial to the continued security of the United States and the possibility of democracy and freedom in the Middle East. Say that you believe fervently that this occupation must continue for as long as it takes to "get the job done." Now, say that the only real threat to the continuation of this occupation is a shortage of front line troops to do the occupying. (And that is certainly the case: you can't believe that Cindy Sheehan, Russ Feingold or any number of polls or protests is going to effect the Bush Administration's policies; their singular mantra is "never change directions!" In fact, the more protest there is, the more they will feel the need to "stay the course")

So, if troop shortages are the real threat to a continued Iraqi occupation, and you really believe that there NEEDS to be a continued Iraqi occupation, and you are able bodied and eligible for service (like most college republicans), then you have a moral obligation to volunteer. To do otherwise, to make excuses about your crucial role in "fighting the war of ideas" at home, is to show a lack of courage in your own convictions and a willingness to allow that which you find disasterous simply to avoid physical danger.

12:13 PM  

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