I contend the American people DO have the will to contend with whatever sacrifices are needed. The American elites, politcal, academic and media DO NOT. The flyover people man the current military, provide the much maligned contract truck drivers and provide what small courtisies (sic) can be given to troops in transit. Do a periodical search and see. One of the States (Texas maybe?) just started a program where the remains of slain soldiers are met at the airport and escorted to their burial site.

The "greatest generation" was great but they were responding to direct and sustained attack. During the Vietnam the Americans put up with years and years of no real strategy in a place of no immediate consequence before we pulled the plug. During Reagan's time we spent what was required until the job was done. In the buildup to this war, no one objected too, in fact everyone expected, the commitment of 400,000 men. The elites were the ones who couldn't stand the thought. Rumsfeld and company cut the force, not some mass letter writing campaign.

I think we (I say this as an always was civilian) will do whatever is asked of us. What we can't do is spontaneously and en-masse create a wise strategy and see it through. The elites are the ones who do that and they aren't up to it.