To answer the non-com’s original question, no, I don’t think anyone who doesn’t have first-hand experience of the situation can speak for the troops. I, for instance, who served three years in Germany in the 1970s, have no business sounding off about what the troops in Iraq want.
That wouldn’t keep me from doing so, however, were I shameless enough to do so. But just putting whatever credentials I have out there and spouting off doesn’t give me credibility. The American public will believe or not based on the speaker’s credibility. Rush, Hanity, et al have expended their credibility long ago. The people who agree with them would hold those opinions anyway. I happen to think the whole Fox News gang pretty much appeals to people who lack any ability to think critically. What frightens me is not so much that that this viewer/listener base has the right to bear arms, but that they have the right to vote.