I hope so too.
It it is obvious that it might not be the case. That makes the incident with Col West all the more laudable. I am pleased to hear that he is getting the support he deserves.
I have lived through all the wars since WW2 and seen thousands of our family and friends die or get maimed fighting political wars, with one hand tied behind our backs and trading blood for political expedience, time or other arcane reasons we may never know.
Suffice to say it sickens me every time.
Fighting a "nice" war is an oxymoron. Most of us do not want to be killed or to kill. If placed in that position I would have a tough decision to make. If we are not determined to win, and we are forced to accept the enemy making the rules, I might choose to be shot by my own side for refusing to accept that.
The other 800-pound gorilla in the living room is the discussion that hasn't happened: innocent civilians. Is there such a thing?
Particularly in asymmetrical war, to what extent is it possible for terrorists to continue their bloody hobby for months or years without the overt and covert support of the "innocent" population?
Once goaded into war, to what extent should we accept the senseless "baby milk factory" and "innocent civilians" enemy tactic?
Those providing the support may not really be "supportive", but merely afraid. Afraid of what will happen to them when the Americans leave, afraid of what might happen to their families tomorrow if they don't cooperate today. Oh yes I'm sure that the bad guys have some real support, but if they had very much, they'd not be needing to bring in all the foreign fighters to fight their battle for them, would they. It is beginning to appear that Saddam knew which way the wind was blowing and that his hard core supporters, a very small group, was all he really had. So he brought in a bunch of crazies from the "schools" in Pakistan and elsewhere to set up sleeper cells which in turn now provide a nucleus for even more newly arrived foreign fighters to form around. That's pretty much the way it went in Afghanistan after the Russians were kicked out. The Taliban brought in the so called "Arab Afghans" (or is it Afghan Arabs?) to do their fighting for them against the remants of the other factions which were pretty well played out at the time, both from fighting the Russians, and fighting each other. Like the Bohlsheviks before them, they laid back during the real revolution/fighting, and then took over after it was won, although the means were somewhat, but not entirely, different.