Chickenhawks Loose in South Carolina

A few brave and well-bred chickenhawks were on full display Thursday night at the South Carolina Republican debate. With the exception of Ron Paul, a former Air Force Flight Surgeon, and John McCain, who served as a Naval aviator - every one of the other candidates went to battle for the title of top GOP chickenhawk when ask by Fox News chickenhawk Brit Hume, whether Naval commanders made the "correct call" in responding "passively" to an alleged aggressive approach by Iranian speed boats in the direction of US Navy Destroyers in the Striat of Hormuz last week.

The first chickenhawk to respond was Governor Mike Huckabee, who answered that he trusts that the commanders made the right call, but couldn't resist adding, "if you think you're going to engage the United States military, be prepared not simply to have a battle. Be prepared, first, to put your sights on the American vessel. And then be prepared that the next things you see will be the gates of Hell, because that is exactly what you will see after that." Tough talk from Governor Huckabee, huh? Sure, we should expect such a quick, assertive tough guy response from Governor Huckabee - after all - he has all of zero days of military service and foreign policy experience under his belt - unless maybe his term as president of Hope High School in 1973 presented him with serious split second national security decisions to make. In any case, Governor Huckabee apparently sees no problem with possibly setting off a massively dangerous and deadly international incident because a couple of little speed boats got too close to multiple US Destroyer warships.

Then there is the ridiculously inept Fred Thompson, who's closest experience with military decision making comes as a Hollywood actor playing presidents and generals. Thompson said that "you can't take decisions like that out of the hands of commanders", as if this was even proposed or possible, and that "one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they're looking forward to seeing", assuming falsely that all Iranians must be wild-eyed suicide bombing terrorists, even if they are members of Iran's military. By Thompson's logic, should Iranians believe that everyone in the American military are terrorists as well?

Then he went on with some nonsense about Iran "testing us", as if they don't know what the US military is capable of, and don't live next door to a country the US invaded without justification. Thompson finishes up by stating, "they [Iran] need to understand that if they cross the line, they're going to be destroyed." What line is he referring to?

Arch chickenhawk, Rudy "9/11" Giuliani, quite possibly used the strangest chickenhawk logic when he stated that little Iranian speed boats traveling too close to US Destroyers are proof that Iran is indeed constructing nuclear weapons, and that we should discount the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that concluded Iran halted nuclear weapons production in 2003. But, regardless of how ridiculous this line of thinking may seem, we shouldn't doubt the wisdom of "the hero of 9/11".

Mitt Romney, who'd probably have trouble naming the five branches of the US military, rambled on about Iran being a "troubled nation", that they are trying to "go after the strait of Hormuz", and how they are "testing our defenses", insinuating without any basis, that Iran is planning some major assault on US forces.

The only non-chickenhawks on stage - Senator McCain and Congressman Ron Paul, the latter of which was mocked by the other candidates for his answer to the Iran speed boat question, were naturally the only ones to address the question with any measure of logic - with Paul stating that he would urge more caution than the chickenhawk rhetoric of Huckabee, Thompson, Giuliani and Romney, and reminding everyone that it is still unconfirmed that the speed boats were Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats. Paul also warned of possible Gulf of Tonkin style lies. McCain, while not going as far as Ron Paul, stressed that the Naval commanders involved in these decisions are trusted professionals who evaluate such situations as they occur, and added that it is "presumptuous" to second guess such decisions - in other words, what-a-stupid-fucking-question-Brit-Hume!

So, while McCain, and especially Ron Paul, were at least somewhat sensible, the rest were the perfect embodiment of the chickenhawk - take any and all opportunities to talk tough and posture like they are George fucking Patton, regardless of whether they have any idea what the hell you are talking about. The sad thing is that if given the right measure of authority, as in the case of Dick Cheney and George W Bush, the chickenhawk can actually employ the US military to act on their inane, uninformed and preposterous notions.

But, let us return to this particular instance of chickenhawk posturing and bloviating. Chickenhawk mediator Brit Hume, and the chickenhawk candidates on stage that night all stake out the classic chickenhawk positions - a) That any and all conflicts can and must be solved by having mostly well meaning American military men and women fire their rifles, drop bombs and launch missiles and rockets, and; b) That any action other than unleashing military force is a sign of weakness and should naturally be questioned, and lastly; c) Label as either crazy or traitorous, anyone who questions the logic or necessity of the chickenhawk's belligerent rhetoric and actions.

Let's not forget the basics here - the American chickenhawk takes these positions even though they themselves have no military experience or instruction, and often have little interaction with the military in any way shape or form - mostly done in pursuit of political power and prestige.

Such is the case with Hume, Huckabee, Thompson, Giuliani and Romney. Although they all grudgingly state their trust in the commanders decision, they all seemed to qualify their statements by talking about sending Iranians to the "gates of hell" (Huckabee), "destroying" Iranians(Thompson) and exaggerating threats with the clear intent to rattle sabers and promote unwarranted war (Giuliani and Romney and the rest). Then, when Ron Paul states that the whole affair is either exaggerated or fabricated, he is literally mocked by the other candidates and chickenhawk moderator extraordinaire Brit Hume.

Which brings us to the crux of this chickenhawk discussion.

As Congressman Paul pointed out in his response, the alleged incident supposedly occurred between some dudes manning a couple of very small speedboats, and US Destroyers - naval vessels that are 509 feet long, hold 323 personnel and feature multiple and massive guns, missile and rocket arsenals. Congressman Paul makes his point by stating that the US Destroyers could take out the speedboats "in about five seconds", illustrating very clearly and correctly that the Iranian speedboats posed almost no threat at all worth discussing.

So why on Earth did Brit Hume and Fox News feature the Iranian speedboat incident as a topic of discussion in a debate between wannabe Republican presidential nominees?

Well, the fact is that the chickenhawk can't resist any opportunity to talk tough or invent and trump up threats that they can later use as the groundwork for future wars, in this case with Iran. Their reasons range between their own personal insecurities and their raw pursuit of power, but are rarely ever legitimate manifestations of real concerns for national security. It is of no matter to these chickenhawk Republican candidates that tiny speedboats pose little to no threat to multiple US Destroyers, nor does the fact that hasty action in the Strait of Hormuz could lead to much worse circumstances - such as a regional war of some sort. In fact, the consequences of all out war with Iran, or even just bombing campaigns within Iran, are either unknown or of no real concern to these Republican chickenhawks, because they, nor their children or loved ones, will ever have to fight in a ground war, or drop bombs from the air, or launch tomahawk missiles from the sea. It is all a game to the American chickenhawk, and we are the pawns.