All this talk about “hurting the morale of troops” & therefore undermining the mission by calling the war a ‘mistake’, calling for withdrawl, and the larger fact that the war was based on lies for profit, misses a larger point… of course it does. How could it not?
Because obviously not one of them wants to be the last person to die for a lie.
It’s basic psychology and nothing to do with “staying the course”… no one (well, no one who doesn’t get off on killing people for no reason) wants to know that they are putting their life on the line, watching their brothers and sisters die and ruining their lives because their President lied to send them there.
Come to think of it, perhaps their morale is a bit bruised by knowing that while Osama is running around Pakistan, evidently under the protection of the government, they are open targets in a desert far, far away… and for no reason other than a) Halliburton/ Lockheed, etc wanted them there or b) Bush is delusional and really thinks this was ‘God’s Will’.
That would hurt a lot don’t you think?
Perhaps they will continue to deny reality and blame those who want to bring them home “before their job is done”. That would be natural too… because what is the other option? Acknowledging that you are so easily deceived by mom, pop and apple pie speeches? The “Axis of Evil” was just a nice turn of phrase to get others to do their fighting for them… that they are not “liberators” but bringers of death and destruction to a country that was not a threat to them… that kind of acknowledgment could be really dangerous for someone who is still getting shot at and blown up in Iraq… and who is still shooting and blowing up Iraqis.
Hell, I worry about how they will cope with reality when they finally do come back state-side.
So yes, Americans may very well know deep down that it does hurt the morale of the troops… but not for the reasons the GOP would want you to believe.
It hurts morale because they know that they are expendable to those with money and power… same as it ever was.
They are the cannon fodder for use at the pleasure of King George.
So which one of them will be the last to die? And how many Iraqis will be joining them?
And that question doesn’t just hurt their morale, it hurts the American “we’re the good guys” psyche too.