IIRC, strict wartime censorship rules were imposed on the media up until the Korean War era, and we were actually a much freer country back then than we are today. If we are really serious about winning this war, we need to start worrying less about the "rights" of those who want to see America defeated, and more about defeating the enemy on every front, including (and especially) the propaganda front.
If you’re using ‘Elah’ as an example of ‘defeatist propaganda’ than you can use just about anything that’s not ‘uplifting’. Ever see ‘They Were Expendable’ (1945)? The Steel Helmet (1951)? There were plenty of melancholy, ambiguous war films back then as well.
Oh yes. Quite fascist.