Instapundit updates, so do we, with another letter from a soldier, this time in Fallujah itself:

I'm going to discuss a subject that I know does not apply to most of you...We're reading that everyone back home is starting to lose faith in our efforts in Iraq [...] I know that doesn't mean a loss in support for the troops, but supporting "the troops" while not supporting the mission doesn't do much for us. If we're over here for nothing then vague "support the troops" statements carry little weight.
...
Have we really become so addled and weak-willed that we can't stick something out through a little rough patch?

I have faith that we'll get the backing we need to finish our work in Iraq.

Please have that faith with me and support our mission as much as you support our Marines.

Something to chew on for those who never once supported the mission.

Also interesting is the 180 degree turn-around of soldier and media attitudes in respect to Vietnam. Then, the media were cheerleaders (until about 1968) and the soldiers were the pessimists. Now, well, who do you believe... an untrained Arts & Sciences journalism major only there for two weeks, or a soldier who's been there more than two months or (in the previous case) more than a year?