It has long been my observation that the American press corps, especially that based in New York and Washington D.C., has been severely negligent in its coverage of those pundits, politicians and think tankers who consistently express their strong support of the wars of choice in Iraq, Afghanistan and increasingly, Libya.

If members of the press were seriously doing their jobs they would ask repeatedly, until fully answered, three basic questions of the armchair warriors who insist that the national security of the United States is at stake in all three wars. The first is whether that particular armchair warrior has been in the U.S. military on any level. The second is whether any son, daughter, grandchild, brother, sister, nephew, niece of said warriors is in the U.S. military. The third is whether that warrior or any of his family members have ever put or are putting their lives on the line in combat to fights those enemies whom they insist are out to wreak havoc on the United States.

If not, why not. If, as they declare daily, the country’s national security is at stake, they should be among the first to sign up to confront the enemy. If they don’t do so, it is not being unreasonable to conclude that they don’t believe this is the case. Or that they do believe it, yet are not prepared to put their lives and the lives of their family members on line to destroy the haters of “freedom and liberty.”

Instead of backing up their patriotic rhetoric with concrete action by joining the military to fight the enemy, Bill Kristol, Paul Wolfowitz, Sean Hannity, Charles Krauthammer, Rush Limbaugh and their cohorts are perfectly satisfied with sending children from low income and working class families to be killed or maimed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya while they and their families  enjoy their ultra-comfortable homes and offices, celebrate holidays, partake in happy hour at the local bar, go on vacations, write books and articles about what “we” must do to protect the national interest.

One of the most insidious of the armchair warriors is Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and frequent commentator on Fox News Sunday. The smug Mr. Kristol usually has a smirk on his face as he pontificates on why it is absolutely crucial that “we” fight these wars of choice because of threats from dangerous and evil enemies. Yet it seemingly never occurs to Kristol that if the threat is so huge that the best way he can help is to either join the military himself or urge young Kristol family members to put their lives on the line in combat. Otherwise he and his friends and colleague are blowing smoke and shamelessly sending children of low income and working families off to sometimes three or four tours of combat in Iraq, Afghanistan and possibly Libya. They share responsibility for the over 6000 American military personnel killed and the many thousands wounded in  the wars they so ardently support but refuse to fight in. That is despicable the press and the parents of those young men and some women need to call them out as the cowardly chicken hawks they are.

Journalist/Lecturer A. Peter Bailey, a former associate editor of Ebony, is currently editor of Vital Issues: The Journal of African American Speeches. He can be reached at 202-716-4560.