Actually.. one last note I always enjoy considering.

The whole torture debate is another example of "we support the troops but they might as well shut the hell up because we ignore them anyway" deal.

Countless uniformed and retired officers and NCO's have come forward publicly to criticize the use of torture by the USG in any case. Right or wrong, these gents usually are the most experienced of the bunch, besides the others (the FBI & CID/NCIS agents who've been chasing terrorists a lot more effectively than the CIA for the last 20 years anyway) who also came out against it forcefully.

Yet the politicians (besides a few notables like McCain, Graham & Congressman Ron Kirk (Naval Intel Reserve Officer/Republican) tend to ignore that. As do most of the people. Certainly most of the media.

That's a shame. They don't waste their oxygen talking about this issue because it makes them feel better.

But then again, considering how we ignored advice for a surge for more than a year, for adequate COIN tactics for 2-3 years and how we told the military to shut up and let Paul Bremer handle it... why do I always bother to get worked up over ignoring the valid and generally far more informed commentary and advice of the military?