Not to quibble, but there is no "war" being fought by US troops, by standard definition of the term:
In Afghanistan we are not at war with the government of Afghanistan.
In Iraq we are not at war with the government of Iraq.
There is no "war on terror" because the "enemy" is not a nation or any specific party, but an ever plastic definition of people or groups of people as terrorists: there is no cohesive body that is the enemy, and nothing can be conquered from them. The prosecution of American citizens as terrorist shows this to be an oxymoronic phrase.
What we really have are:
Police action in Afghanistan in support of the government there (and with their active support).
Peace-keeping action in Iraq trying to keep rival factions in the civil war (albeit one that has been unleashed by US destruction of the previous government) there from killing each other, and to support the ?government? there (and with their active support). Peace-keeping action that is jeopardized by the US active participation in the destruction of the previous government.
Police action against international criminals (whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, etc) that kill innocent people, trying to bring them to justice or kill them in the process (just as with other violent criminals).
In this regard, I would say that the media is "harming the war" because they have allowed these conflicts to be mis-defined and misrepresented to Americans and to the world.
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