The point is that there are only two logical possibilities: shooting the barnacles, or not shooting the barnacles, and regardless of which category a commander falls into, either way, they deserve to be attacked. The peace-loving versus hideous qualifiers are just rhetoric one would use to rationalize an attack against the commander depending on whether they shot barnacles or not. In reality, barnacles are just barnacles.
It's the sense of humor which gives people like you away. Work on that when you're through with logic.