All This Talk of War

Why are Republicans beating the drums of war again and not just one war but two?

Is this a Déjà Vue of the last decade? Have these old men forgotten their decade old march of folly? (Apologies to the great Barbara Tuchman) Do they think starting a war will ensure their victory in the fall? Do they think this talk of bombing Syria and Iran will embarrass the President and make him look weak? Are they trying to foment crisis in the Middle East to raise the price of oil and thus the price of gas here in this country in order to stifle the economy and improve their chances in November?

The answer to all of those is yes. Each war monger has his own motive and some of them have multiple motives but trust me none of them are pure and none of them have the best interest of this country truly at heart.

There are some Republican war mongers who claim that we should attack Iran to protect Israel and accuse the President of abandoning Israel. Think about how many of these war mongers are also conservative Christians who believe that only the anointed ones will get into heaven during the end times. Israel plays a key part in the end time story as the savior of the world will lead his battle to install the kingdom of heaven on earth via Israel. They neglect to tell the rest of the story; the Jews will all go to hell when the Prince of Peace comes back to do battle with Satan but until then Israel (the Jewish homeland) is very useful to them.

There is a theory that wars are started by old men who are in the twilight of their lives and resentful of the youthful vitality of the younger generation. These old men start wars so they can send the young off to die and they get to keep their power a little longer and remove the obstacle to younger women. John McCain & Joe Lieberman come quickly to mind here.

Three of the four remaining GOP candidates for President fall into this category:

Chicken Hawk – As defined by Wikipedia

Chickenhawk (also chicken hawk and chicken-hawk) is a political epithet used in the United States to criticize a politician, bureaucrat, or commentator who strongly supports a war or other military action (i.e., a War Hawk), yet who actively avoided military service when of age.

Newt Gingrich – Never served in the military and requested more than 1 deferment

Rick Santorum – Never did anything other than politics

Ron Paul – Served

Mitt Romney – Received a couple of deferments so he could fulfill in Mormon missionary requirement in Paris France not Texas. In 2008 when reminded of his pro-Vietnam war activities as a young man and pro-Iraq and Afghanistan war as a current candidate he was asked if any of his sons have served their country in the military. He responded that his sons were serving their country by working to elect him President.

Barack Obama - never served and neither did Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton but they understand that this nation does not go to war or use its mighty military force unless it is attacked, or in our role as the indispensable nation without the support of the community of nations.