war hawk
n.
1. A member of the 12th US Congress (1811 - 1813) who advocated war with Great Britain.
2. One who advocates war; a hawk.

The term "War Hawk" was coined by Virginia Congressman John Randolph just before the War of 1812 to describe a group of young Republicans from the South and West that advocated conflict with Britain. Two of the most notable hawks of the time were John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay. In the 1810 congressional elections hawks gained significantly more seats in the House of Representatives, and Henry Clay became Speaker. The hawks were primarily interested in putting a stop to England's frequent, hostile attacks against American commercial interests -- including blockades of American ports and impressing sailors -- and their general disregard for American neutrality.

The term hawk has since been used to describe those advocating armed conflict. The new breed of hawks are as interested as ever in using foreign policy to secure what they perceive is in America’s vital interest, even to the extent of using force. Today's hawks have revised American foreign policy to include the legitimization of preemptive and preventative first strikes- a move that is heretofore unprecedented. They have established a no-tolerance policy toward rogue states they claim possess weapons of mass destruction. Additionally, the new doctrine makes clear that the United States is willing to act alone, and minimize its dependence on international bodies and treaties. Consequently, in establishing a new doctrine for America's engagement in the world, the hawks are ultimately advocating war to enforce their belief in American dominance. More evidence is presented in the following brief recounting of their past endeavors.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz wrote a paper about the threat of Iraq some 20 years ago. In 1991, he was a primary architect of the Gulf War, and took issue with how quickly it ended. Now, in his outline for the current war, he deems action necessary not only to defend against the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, but necessary in order to access Iraq's oil. He has incorporated into the US National Security Strategy the idea that the US should actively prevent any challenge to its supremacy on the world stage.

Richard Perle is an interventionist conservative, accused of being anti-Arab and a huge advocate of preemption. In a recent New Yorker article, Seymour Hersh exposed a potential conflict of interest inherent in Perle's work with both the Pentagon and a bankrupt telecom company called Global Crossing. Global Crossing is currently seeking investment opportunities in post-war Iraq. Perle has since resigned as chair of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board. He also quit his job with Global Crossing, and is not accepting compensation for his work there. Dick Cheney is in a compromised position strikingly similar to Perle's; Kellogg, Brown & Root, a division of Cheney's former company Halliburton, has secured a deal with the government to be responsible for the clean-up and stewardship of post-Saddam Iraqi oil fields. As in the hawks of yore, neo-hawks, particularly Perle and Cheney, allow what may be in their personal interests to help steer the direction of foreign policy, or at least reap its benefits.

In 1998, prominent conservatives working on the Project for the New American Century wrote a letter to then President Clinton urging him to oust Saddam Hussein. Now 8 out of the 18 signers are in the Bush administration: Rumsfeld, Perle, and Wolfowitz, as well as Elliot Abrams, Richard Armitage, John Bolton, Paula Dobriansky, and Zalmay Kahlilzad. Also included in this posse are Robert Kagan and William Kristol, the men in charge of the Project for the New American Century. Their report, "Rebuilding America's Defenses" notes "The US has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in the Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." This just adds to the evidence supporting the idea that the current administration’s hawks have been after Iraq since before George W. Bush even took office.

The chart below shows more of the hawks in the administration and their records. This new generation of hawks is continuing in the grand tradition of aggressive politics on a world stage, but is now increasingly willing to use war more quickly than their hawk granddaddies were. This new doctrine will only serve to empower the hawks of the future.

Hawk	Biography	Their Own Words	Hawk rating
George W. Bush President	- Texas Air National Guard pilot during Vietnam. - Texas oilman, and part owner of the Texas Rangers 1989-94. - Governor of Texas 1994-2000.	"Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force. This will not be a campaign of half-measures. It is a fight for the security of our nation and the peace of the world, and we will accept no outcome but victory."	Chicken Hawk
Dick Cheney Vice President	- Assorted Nixon Administration posts. - President Ford's Deputy Assistant to the President, Assistant to the President and White House Chief of Staff. - Five time Wyoming Congressman from 1977-88. - Secretary of Defense 1989-93.	"The return of inspectors would provide no assurance whatsoever of [Iraq's] compliance.... The risks of inaction are far greater than the risk of action."	Bird of Prey
Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense	- Navy pilot 1954-57. Navy reservist until 1989. Never saw combat. - Representative from Illinois, 1962-69. - 1969-70 Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Assistant to the President. - Chief of Staff, Secretary of Defense under President Ford.	"There is no question but that Iraq is a state that has committed terrorist acts and has sponsored terrorist acts."	Career Hawk
Paul Wolfowitz Deputy Secretary of Defense	- Governmental defense policy strategist since 1973. - Head of State Department's Policy Planning Staff 1981-82. - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Regional Programs 1977-80. - US Ambassador to Indonesia and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in Reagan Administration.	"Instead of a high-level commitment to disarmament, Iraq has a high-level commitment to concealing its weapons of mass terror."	Terminal Hawk
John Negroponte US Ambassador to the United Nations	- Ambassador to Honduras 1981-85. - Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs 1985-87. - Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs 1987-89. - Ambassador to Mexico 1989-93. - Ambassador to the Philippines 1993-96. - Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and American Academy of Diplomacy.	"The declaration was a fundamental test of cooperation and intent, and Iraq failed it resoundingly."	UBER-Hawk
Richard Perle Ex-Chairman of Pentagon Defense Policy Board	- Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during Reagan administration. - Resident fellow of American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.	"Saddam Hussein's reign of terror is about to end. He will go quickly, but not alone: in a parting irony, he will take the UN down with him. Well, not the whole UN. The ‘good works' part will survive, the low-risk peacekeeping bureaucracies will remain, the chatterbox on the Hudson will continue to bleat. What will die is the fantasy of the UN as the foundation of a new world order."	UBER-Hawk
Colin Powell Secretary of State	- Professional soldier for 35 years; 4-star General. - Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs 1987-89. - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1989-1993.	"Everybody who voted for (Resolution 1441) that day knew that that meant if Iraq does not disarm peacefully, it must be done through the use of force."	Reluctant Hawk
Douglas Feith Undersecretary of Policy - US Department of Defense	- White House National Security Staff and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Negotiations Policy in the Reagan Administration. - Neo-conservative - Written extensively about Israel's moral superiority to Arabs	Strong support of Iraq Liberation Act "I think the disarmament of Iraq is inevitable."	Reluctant Hawk

For more info:

www.newamericancentury.org
www.defenselink.mil/news
www.nationalreview.com
www.ceip.org/files/Iraq/index.html