The "Just Nuke ‘Em" Crowd are Cowards, and Without Honor

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

- Thomas Jefferson

The right wing generally preens and postures over questions of honor; they claim to hold the mantle of moral righteousness in a world overtaken by so-called post-modern relativism. Yet, in fact, when they clamor for our military – an institution feudal enough in character for honor to retain some meaning – to flatten Fallujah, the “conservatives” actually show their true stripes – as a pack of simpering cowards. The Thomas Jefferson quotation above has been invoked by, among other, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage. Judging from their bizarre bloodlust this week, however, it is clear that they’ve failed to read it for its nuance. Thomas Jefferson here uses a rhetorical device known as "climax" or "gradatio," which involves listing items in increasing importance, where the last item would be the most important. Thus, we could characterize Jefferson's arrangement as follows:

1) Our lives (important)
2) Our fortunes (more important)
3) Our sacred honor (most important)

In this light, let’s examine the statement of one Bob Lonsberry's, a “Just Nuke ‘em” proponent and columnist for the New York Post:

It is better for a B-52 to flatten an Iraqi neighborhood than it is for one United States Marine to die.

Lonsberry’s perverse argument, falsely titled “Fight Like Americans,” reverses Jefferson’s apt arrangement. Here, the lives of Marines take on a deeper importance than the sacred honor of those Marines, the Marine Corps and the United States more generally. The simpering and honorless call of the "nuke 'em til they glow" conservatives goes something like this:

And for the support of this operation, with a firm reliance on the protection of invisible technology, we individually pledge to secure our Fortunes, and most importantly our Lives (sacred Honor be damned).

The Marine tradition of Bellau Wood, Peleilu, the Chosin Resevoir, Hue City and Khe Sanh is disgraced by such nonsense. I am not, saying, of course, that Marines shouldn't rely, to some extent, on technology, artillery, or air support. But the argument put forth by Lonsberry is quite different. It assumes that the Marines couldn't take the city, and that they should be merely garbage men for the Air Force. More importantly, it argues that the Marines should dishonor themselves by being party to a slaughter out of general cowardice.

Lonsberry will, no doubt, argue that "peacenik Lefties" have never gotten over their so-called “Vietnam syndrome.” The Vietnam Syndrome argument supposes that the American people are so averse to casualties that they will refuse to use force even when it is needed. While the “Vietnam Syndrome” is a right wing construct, and objectionable on its face, we might go ahead and take it on its own terms here. What we see, taking the “Vietnam Syndrome” on its own terms, is that it is a dual affliction, and that the Right Wing are far more symptomatic than others. The "nuke 'em til they glow" crowd are the ones who cannot stomach even one casualty - and will engage in wholesale murder to avoid even one death. This particular variant of the Vietnam Syndrome sacrifices not our will to action, but our insistence on honorable action. And if we follow Jefferson's arrangement carefully, we see that the former is the most important.

In his argument, Lonsberry obviously disgraces the Marine Corps. Worse still, however, the “Flatten Fallujah” crowd expose themselves as the worst sort of cowards: they disgrace the sacred honor of these United States.

Just imagine the smirk on smirk's face if a reporter asked him:

"Mr. pResident, what do you say to those who think we should nuke Fallujah?"

It's good to see the CONS showing their teeth. People will recognize the resemblance to rabid dogs.

seriously, I could see shrub salivate at the mention of such a thing.
Unfortunately, the US uses nukes...and the rest of the world will
join in on the fray... Seriously, we've already established
precedence with "pre-emptive invasions".... Imagine if we use
nukes... :eyes:

cowards they are. Its amazing, they don't believe in "stand up fights".
Oh no...we can't have casualties...we're invincible. Let's kill all
those civilians. Let's behave like Nazis.

Go back to Leo Strauss the "God" of the neocons. These people
are there to make a profit for the oil and gas companies. So
they may do anything they want and are above laws and morality.
They are the garden variety Chickenhawks.

The common republican trailer guy is just a dope along for the
ride. Say anything you want to fool him just to bring him along
for the ride.

Using nuclear weapons would not be acceptable to the neocons as
they wish american imperialism in the middle east. They aren't
there to destroy the middle east (in a nuclear sense).

I'm arguing that the calls for "flattening Fallujah" coming out of the RW are cowardly and without honor. Whether the administration follows through on these calls is immaterial for my argument.

;)

But it falls under the general category of gradatio. :-)