ChickenHawk

With the current U.S. war on the world progrom both the right and the left have tossed around the term 'chickenhawk' a lot lately. It's left a bad taste in my mouth so I wanted to examine the roots of the term a little deeper. First of all the main point I think that's missed by folks relying on this term chickenhawk to shame people is the fact that there are many combat vets who are just plain hawks! Just because you've had the experience of war doesn't mean you'll automatically be against war. The term implies an erroneous theory that veterans, who've experienced the horrors of war, are less likely to call for war as a strategy.

Some of the best and bravest of our lefty activists and leaders were "draft dodgers," GI resisters and conscientious objectors. As anti-war vets, you would hopefully be the last to call someone "chicken" for not going to war, right? But there is this term chicken hawk... Hawk meaning of course that they are 'hawkish' on war, war mongers of sorts.

It is true veterans of these wars carry a certain "right to speak" on these matters because of experience. When lefty people use the term chickenhawk the intention is to point out the hypocritical calls of the war mongers because they don't know anything about war, really. Like if they think war is the answer than why won't they actually fight it? This quote from Woody Powell, the national administrator of Veterans for Peace, from an article in the Washington Post has merit;

"I think if they had had the sobering experience of war-they don't even have to have been in combat, but if they had just walked around and looked at the bodies one time-they might have a little more perspective on the decisions that they are making," said Powell, a veteran of the Korean war, who said he wasn't particularly fond of President Clinton-who "fired missiles to distract" from his personal scandals. "If they haven't smelled the scent of napalm, if they haven't heard the bullets going by them, they just really aren't acquainted with what they're dealing with in a visceral sense. They need to smell it, and it doesn't smell good."

The rulers of this country, the privileged class, have the ability to manipulate, even in the midst of a draft, to simply avoid military service. Contrary to the current bizarre debate in which I find myself on the side of republicans saying the draft is not a good idea. Does Congressman Rangel really believe rich peoples kids are ever going to be on the front lines? No, It is not their sons and daughters who will be cannon-fodder. The explanation that these rulers who have not experienced combat call for war because they don't know any better let's them off the hook. If they only knew what war was really like they wouldn't be so quick to call for it. What is really compelling these hawks toward war? The reasons are complex, economic, and geopolitical but can basically be boiled down to one reason-imperialism. The fact is that the U.S. military is used to defend the whole imperialist set up. The terms I would use would be more like, elite warmongers, Nazis, bloodsuckers, pigs... These may be considered more inflammatory but I think they are more accurate. The term 'chickenhawk' just misses the mark for me. Veterans experience should be noted, but the fact that they fought in the imperialist U.S. military and were used to carry out crimes against the people of the world is nothing to be respected. Their honor comes in the rejection and condemnation of all that mess.

I want to mention another chicken here. That is the Personal Call to the Troops-The Chicken Call. This is a powerful short video piece that Randy Rowland (GI resister-Presidio 27 mutineer) put together recently. It can be viewed on the Seattle IMC web site http://seattle.indymedia.org/