Dan Rather issued a stern warning on Sunday to pundits who have beating the drums for war lately: if you aren't willing to send your kid to war, just stop talking.
Rather appeared on CNN's "Reliable Sources," and told host Brian Stelter that it "unsettles" him to hear the growing calls for U.S. intervention around the world. When asked whether the calls for war were getting stronger, he said that they have been more "accentuated" recently, and that he was compelled to speak out as a "citizen."
"My first question to anyone who is on television saying, "We have to get tough, we need to put boots on the ground and we need to go to war in one of these places" is, I will hear you out if you tell me you are prepared to send your son, your daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter to that war of which you are beating the drums," Rather continued. "If you aren't, I have no patience with you, and don't even talk to me."
Unfortunately for Rather, the discussion on the Sunday morning political shows was probably not what he wanted to hear. They were dominated by guests warning that the Islamic State could launch an attack on the United States, and urging the White House to escalate its offensive beyond airstrikes.