Letters to the Editor
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Just another variant of the war monger
In England during World War I, as thousands were dying pointlessly in the trenches, pretty girls went around handing white feathers — a symbol of cowardice — to men who weren't in uniform. The one group currently being handed white feathers who may deserve them are the so-called "war wimps" or "chicken hawks" — prominent Americans helping to spread war fever today who avoided service during Vietnam.
—"No white feather, please," The New Republic, June 16, 1986
Well, there's no longer a need to dodge the draft, but rather to take the field trip to Iraq. And it's not so much spreading war fever as it is spreading "victory fever". Those who understand war know that it is difficult, if not impossible, to make such predictions.
"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events."
-Sir Winston Churchill