Chickenhawk

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==Countries Ruled Only By People with Military Experience==
 
==Countries Ruled Only By People with Military Experience==

Revision as of 17:46, 14 December 2007

They so proudly wear this insignia.
"Operation Chickenhawk" illustration (by William Bramhall), from Al Franken's Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot (1996)

A chickenhawk is a person in a position of public prominence or power who displays two traits:

  • Aggressive support for military force as a primary instrument of foreign policy.
  • A documentable lack of combat experience.

Currently, the U.S. Administration has an abundance of these creatures. Indeed, since the resignation of Colin Powell, there is no-one with genuine combat experience in any prominent executive position. This can lead to policies based on dangerously abstracted notions of the nature and efficacy of war.

Those who have seen the horrors of war first-hand tend to be cautious about wilfully unleashing such havoc again, no matter how remote or foreign the field. As well as not appreciating the full human costs of their decisions, there remains the uncomfortable suspicion that chickenhawks are prepared to send others to risk their lives in ways that chickenhawks would never risk their own.

Contents

Prominent Chickenhawks

Here is a short list of prominent chickenhawks:

Commanders-In-Chief who have led Wars, but never fought in a War

Countries Ruled Only By People with Military Experience

  • Myanmar it's called Burma, dammit!
  • Pakistan

See also

References


External Links and Sources

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