When media know-it-alls proclaim with confidence that, just as in Vietnam, American troops serving in wartime overseas are getting burned out and dispirited, thus contributing to recruitment and retention problems, you?ll know why to discount it. As the blog StrategyPage explains:

Troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to reenlist. Some of this is due to higher re-enlistment bonuses, but those re-enlisting (and 35 percent of them do it in a combat zone) often say they believe strongly in what they are doing, and that?s why they volunteer to keep doing it. By the end of the year, the army expects to get 4,000 more re-enlistments than it expected. A disproportionate number of these are coming from combat troops, which is very helpful. Combat experience is invaluable, and perishable. Keeping such experienced troops in combat units makes those outfits more effective, and lowers the friendly casualty rates.

Such trends are not infinintely sustainable, of course, but they do comport with previous experience in America and around the world. When the cause is just and troops can see tangible benefits from their sacrifice, they remain committed even in the midst of significant casualties and discomforts. Human beings have it in them to be heroic, which is one reason why heroic literature and archtypes are found in pretty much every culture in the world.

And now, back to listening to the new Harry Potter book . . .