With all due respect:
We are all complicit in the debacle of Iraq. You are. I am. The men and women in the military are. The veterans are. The media are. And mostly the neocon politicians are.
We - every one of us - failed to do the things that were necessary to stop this war from happening. And we are failing to do the things necessary to stop it from continuing. We have not prevailed. We are all to blame. Including the men and women on the ground in Iraq.
It seems you are asking to hold our professional military to a different standard -- suggesting they have less responsibility for our collective failure. That by somehow carrying arms in our defense they get a pass on their responsibility as citizens.
Sorry, Sergeant Major. I'm not willing to go there. Warfighters are part of the problem. No more than you are. No more than I am. But no less either.
Anglico
PS Deja vu. I had these debates with the 2nd Anglico sergeant major every week back in the 70s. I was in the minority then too.