The Vietnam war was vastly more deadly and unpopular than the Iraq war and in both 1968 and 1972 elections the defeatists candidates of the democrat party were crushed. The majority of American voters will not elect a defeatist for President no matter what.
I respect your position here jveritas, I truly do. And I truly wish it were true. But you are very mistaken, the America of the early 21st century most certainly could elect a defeatist. The honor that Churchill spoke of so eloquently is absent today in America as we rapidly pursue the course taken by Europe before us -- to soft socialist stupor.