A chickenhawk is some one who is pro-war, who did something dodgy to avoid military service when his or her country called on him. Most commonly used by people on the left, but only because conservatives tend to be more pro-war in general.1
In its most common usage, its applied to modern-day politicians who used their famous and/or rich dads to do something to avoid fighting in Vietnam, but now are trying to get US troops to go fight another nation. Famous US chickenhawks include almost every politician who is not John Kerry or John McCain, both on the right and on the left. George W. Bush is often considered a chickenhawk because he got his dad to pull strings so that he never had to leave the states, but has now sent people off to die in at least two wars. Some people consider Bill Clinton to be one too, because he got a Rhodes Scholarship instead of getting drafted, and he sent US troops into Bosnia. The lists are always a little fuzzy, because there is a degree of war-mongering required, and whether someone is an evil baby killer or freedom-defending patriot is often a matter of which side of the debate you are on. Reluctant warriors are not chickenhawks. People who have exhausted all other options are not chickenhawks.
A list of chickenhawks may be found here2:
http://www.nhgazette.com/chickenhawks.html
Remember - a chickenhawk is not just "someone who hasn't served". It is someone who dodged the draft to avoid serving, and is now trying to send others off to do what he (or she) was unwilling to do. A chickenhawk thinks that war is a great thing for others to fight in, but has shown an unwillingness to do so himself when called upon.
- Why that is, I don't know. What does war conserve, anyway? Or, for that matter, why would a progressive be pro-war? Not a whole lot of progress going on there....
- I realize that list has a lefty bias. But since both sides use this as a name calling tactic, I am sure that there exists a more conservatively slanted list. I'll happily post a link to one if someone points me to it.