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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

US talks like a hawk, acts like a chicken under fire—history shows it

Americans are happy only with wars that are fought as video games, where they kill thousands of enemy combatants and civilians, but where no Americans have to die.

I don’t suppose anyone remembers Dan Quayle, the semi-literate Vice President of the US, when the first George Bush was President. But I have thought of him a lot as the US misadventure in Iran has progressed.

Like many conservative US leaders (Donald Trump, for instance), Quayle came from a wealthy and well-connected family. He talked the language of courage, strength, power and war. This went down well with his supporters till it was revealed that the brave vice president had avoided the draft and had chickened out of fighting in Vietnam (like Trump).

Quayle had secured a safe position with the Indiana National Guard and had never risked his life or even left his country to fight. Trump also avoided being drafted, but that was because he said he had ‘bone spurs.’

Quayle was accused of cowardice, and a common joke at the time went: “What do you get when you cross a hawk with a chicken?” Answer: “You get a Quayle.”

I don’t think Trump is a Quayle or even a quail; he is far more dangerous and mercurial. The parallel is not with an individual but with America itself. Like Quayle, the US talks the language of strength and bravery. But when it comes to facing bullets, it avoids any risk to itself. The strength is not matched with any courage.

From hawks to chickens

Living so many miles away from the US, we sometimes fail to realise how secure America is. No matter what the war is, the Continental United States is never in any danger. There are never any hostile........

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