What we cannot afford is someone who speaks ill of the MILITARY when their lives are on the line. Criticize politicians if you must (and I put Bill Clinton at the head of this fiasco...what with his stupid agreement and his downsizing of forces) but the bottom line is that Hack is demoralizing any troops who are listening to him. He should shut up.
As one of the troops, let me assure you that Hack is not demoralizing anyone -- except maybe those who don't understand the full nature of war. Hack knows what it takes to train and lead men in battle, and he is often critical of those whom he believes are less than capable. As a fellow infantry officer (though a Marine), I agree with many of his assessments.
This is not a time to stifle dissent from men like Hackworth and his fellow Korean War veterans. We might be committing ourselves to a larger war than we ever dreamed, so we'd better be sure we are fully prepared for what lies ahead.
It's far more dangerous to our military members to ignore reality than it is to face up to it You can't begin to fix a problem until you recogonize that it exists. Thinking nothing but "Happy Thougts" gets people killed for no good reason. That's what happened at Pearl Harbor.