I am not so sure they are behind us. The Leftists in this country are doing all they can to ensure that Iraq becomes a repeat of Vietnam.
I see no way that U.S. armed forces can lose the shooting war in Iraq. But they could lose the propaganda war here at home.
Yeah, the days of a Walter Cronkite-like figure are long gone (unless you want to count Brit Hume).
I realize the left is a dangerous and wily opponent in struggle for the hearts and minds of Americans. But I don't think there's any doubt they've really lost respect for their best weapon (TV network news).
They'll have to come up with some pretty clever new ideas in order to win the propaganda war this time. And their websites (like DU) aren't doing them any favors either.
The war in Iraq was won with the 2004 Congressional and Presidential elections. It is expected that our standdown in Iraq will begin in 2006. There is nothing to indicate that we are going to suddenly pull troops and abandon Iraq before then. Even if the Democrats somehow take complete control of Congress in the 2006 elections, it will be too late. Iraq will be protected by their own forces by the time the Democrats could theoretically come into power in 2007.
While the media and Democrat politicians may be hurting the effort, they certainly are not defeating it. This is not Vietnam. They don't have enough time to politically destroy Iraq.