Put your money on the former.
Other than why is it that people become so insecure when we lose people in war, yet are completely oblivious to how many people we lose in peacetime just training for possible war. That sort of timidity is what has in the past caused us to lose; it's what caused carter to run from Iran, and that indecion and weakness led to years and years of terrorism agaisnt the US. Reagan's run from Lebanon inspired much terrorism, only to be corrected with a strike on Libya. Timidity what made Clinton run terrified from Somalia, for fear of losing popularity, and when he did, our retreat inspired al Qaeda to strike again and again and again.
This has been one of the most awesome military dashes in history, and relatively speaking, the cost is thus far much smaller than what it could have been, certainly much lower than what would have been the norm for us throughout history. This dash, and the as yet untold activities of our special forces, are incredible and stunning, yet it's been done with enormous restraint and care.
Bear in mind that we don't HAVE to be restrained and we don't have to care. Those are luxuries we can dispense with if need be. Our enemies, by contrast, have to be brutal and vicious because they are going to lose no matter how it's sliced. Their sole hope lies in trying to win politically, because they cannot win militarily, so they rely on finding ways to make people uncertain and fearful in the hopes we will lose faith and go home to cut our losses.
It's a good thing we don't have to fight the Revolution today- one lost dispatch rider and some downed minutemen and the press would have everyone ready to quit thinking the sky is falling and Washington was fleeing for France.
My feeling is that Peggy is one of the most genuine people on this earth. If she puts something on paper, take it to the bank. She believes it with all her heart.