Reply #12: This "argument" has [View All]

[vicman]

making the rounds for several weeks now, from various right-wing sources. It's amazing how they all manage to parrot the talking points exactly, in lockstep. This obviously was crafted in the bowels of the RNC, possibly even given a final edit by KKKarl Rove himself. Civilian control of the military has been incredibly effective in this country since its inception. It's a good idea, but this "chickenhawk" phoenomenon is a new thing in our history. For the first time, a cabal of very powerful individuals who have a common history of actively avoiding and even disdaining military service, have decided to use the U.S. military as an active tool of their diplomacy and desire for hegemony in world affairs. The chickenhawk argument exists because this administration has created it.

Civilian leaders in the past have tended to very deliberately decide upon war as a last resort (rightly or wrongly, as only history can show). The waging of war they left mostly to military leaders once clear goals had been set (Korea and Vietnam offer glaring reminders of the inevitable folly that ensues when this simple axiom is ignored). The chickenhawks' lack of true understanding of the effect of war on those consigned to fight it has become important because of their clearly stated intention of starting wars as the essential element of their foreign policy. Preemptive strikes, etc...

Having decided upon war prior to any other option (just read PNAC and listen to the repeated pronouncements of the neo-con whistle-asses if you doubt me) they open themselves to horrendous folly, which we are experiencing daily in their execution of their first war of choice (an opportunity they'd been salivating over for years). I mean, torture makes perfect sense to these guys because they have only their own experience to fall back on. They know for a fact that they personally would scream like little girls the first instant even one hair on their ball sac was ruffled and answer truthfully more questions than their torturer even asked. So it must work for everyone, right? The Geneva conventions had to be crafted by knotheads who hadn't the benefit of the education the neo-cons had. You see where all this leads.

Chickenhawks have always been with us, this is just the first time they've weilded such immense power to get thousands of real people murdered in the name of their ideals(delusions? - I personally think so in this case).

This RNC talking point simply allows them to play the victim and once again evade accountability for their decisions. And that's what the modern GOP is all about, and little else...