"For Warophobes" II (a clarification)

I got this sizzling response to my original "Warophobes" post.

Hey Bismarck [I guess he thinks I love war],

Learn to frame a syllogism. You’re begging the question. It's obvious that you've never served in the military, and are just another repressed gay chicken-hawk. I know the big mean terrorist have scared you, but try and act like a man anyway – ok? - anonymous

I know that's you, Senator Kennedy! You got me! Your non sequitur certainly proves that I am a "gay chicken-hawk."

But seriously, my hunch is that Mr. Anonymous missed a day or two in his logic class.

In addition to the "repressed gay chicken-hawk" non sequitur is the equally fallacious and cliched claim that those who have not served in the military have no basis for arguing in favor of military action. That claim is an example of the disingenuous, inconsistent "ethics" that views military service in purely emotional terms. So, one who has never been a firefighter has no ethical authority to call the fire department, is that it?

Regardless, I am not trying to prove the existence of warophobes. Their existence is self-evident. But for the record, I'll give the syllogism Mr. Anonymous thought he detected missing:

A) Congress members who work against U.S. efforts to achieve victory can be called "warophobes."
B) Some Congress members are working against efforts to achieve victory in Iraq.
C) Some Congress members can be called warophobes.

See? No questions begged.

My hunch is that the "warophobes" term is what offended Mr. A. I guess I can see why. It's true I adapted it from terms like "homophobes" and "xenophobes," and I did, I confess, intend it pejoratively.

But I've miscommunicated to Mr. A. For the sake of clarity, let's refine the point.

First, in calling certain Congress members warophobes, I don't mean they or anyone ought to love war. No one should love war. I sure don't.

Second, I don't even think they hate or fear war itself, necessarily. It's that they hate the war in Iraq because they fear President Bush's success. As a result, these Congress members have put themselves in the reprehensible, disgraceful position of fearing and/or hating the idea of U.S. victory. Their actions and rhetoric suggest that they prefer losing the war to winning it, whatever the cost may end up being.

Maybe a better term would be victoryophobes. How about defeatophiles?

Mr. A, go ahead and hate war. But hate defeat even more.

And thanks for being helpful, even if it was unintentional.