Did Somebody Say...

Chickenhawk?

Where have I heard that before?

Smash has an update here (with links to others).

Phil Carter has a New York Times op/ed here (with a very interesting editorial comment)

Also interesting is that Scott Ott made the call last month.

Problems recruiting? You bet. There are lot's of reasons to join the military, and most who do cite several. But a certain percentage of the population has always joined "for an education" or some other purpose related purely to their own self interest. In wartime that percentage melts away. It's easy to simplify that to "not joining because of the war" but the reality is as simple as stated above.

A good percentage of people, however, like to convince themselves that they would serve, if conditions were more to their liking - to fight a hypothetical war they supported, for instance. The reality of their situation is that they wouldn't serve under any circumstances - call it cowardice, call it what you will. But to maintain some shred of dignity they use whatever excuse they find convenient for not supporting their country in time of war. They didn't serve in the Cold War, Iraq the first time around, Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia, Afghanistan, or anywhere else for that matter - and there are no circumstances under which they would ever do so.

They in turn project their motives onto others who support the war but aren't in uniformed service. See, you support the war but don't serve, therefore you are a coward. I, on the other hand, am not a coward because I am not serving because I don't support the war. I am clearly morally superior to you.

If you are of that mindset you know that war is undeniably barbaric, after all, and it's quite easy to convince yourself that you are a superior specimen of humanity - like a few others you are above that sort of thing. Eventually the rest of the population of the world will evolve to your high level - certainly before the barbarians come knocking on your door.

I'd go one step further and propose that there are those who "oppose the war" purely out of fear that they would ever be expected to serve. And that those who shout "chickenhawk" the loudest and most often are most likely in this group.

You can find out how to join the Army right here, by the way. The benefits? How about making history, saving civilization, etc.

Then you can join MilBlogs here. What are the benefits of that? Glad you asked.

One is that lefty bloggers will never link you - you represent everything they can't comprehend about service. They don't much care about what military people really think, say, or care about after all. Which by itself, is further support for what I proposed about the whole motivation behind the chickenhawk thing anyway.

Need more convincing? Did I mention the babes? Do you think Atrios will ever have a post like this dedicated to him? or this