RICHARD ENGEL, NBC REPORTER

There's been quite a fuss in wingnut world over William Arkins' (WaPo) response to this story (from Lexis-Nexis):

NBC Nightly News 6:30 PM EST NBC
January 26, 2007 Friday
LENGTH: 416 words
HEADLINE: Troops in Iraq upset Americans not supporting the war
ANCHORS: BRIAN WILLIAMS
REPORTERS: RICHARD ENGEL

BODY:

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:Tonight we get to see American soldiers on the job in Iraq, and more important really, we get to hear from them about all of the talk about the war here at home. We get this view courtesy of our veteran Baghdad base correspondent who is tonight embedded with US forces as they prepare to be joined by a whole lot more US forces. Here with our report, NBC's Richard Engel.

RICHARD ENGEL reporting:When the Stryker Brigade's Apache Company headed out this morning, they had one mission: to find bases for the new US troops coming in. There aren't a lot of safe options in Hurriya.

Unidentified Man #1: (Foreign language spoken)

ENGEL: This Baghdad neighborhood has been overrun by Shiite militias that have forced out nearly all of the Sunnis. The company also checks out an Iraqi army outpost, but it's just a trash-strewn soccer field, exposed to snipers. And there's a bigger problem, the Iraqi soldiers aren't staying on guard duty.

Unidentified Man #2: We came here to find you guys, and we came in here, and no one was here.

ENGEL: It's not just the new mission the soldiers are adjusting to. They have something else on their minds: the growing debate at home about the war. Troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for.Twenty-one-year-old Specialist Tyler Johnson is on his first tour in Iraq. He thinks skeptics should come over and see what it's like firsthand before criticizing.

Specialist TYLER JOHNSON: Those people are dying. You know what I'm saying? You may support--`Oh, we support the troops,' but you're not supporting what they do, what they share and sweat for, what they believe for, what we die for. It just don't make sense to me.

ENGEL: Staff Sergeant Manuel Sahagun has served in Afghanistan and is now on his second tour in Iraq. He says people back home can't have it both ways.

Staff Sergeant MANUEL SAHAGUN: One thing I don't like is when people back home say they support the troops but they don't support the war. If they're going to support us, support us all the way.

ENGEL: Specialist Peter Manna thinks people have forgotten the toll the war has taken.

Specialist PETER MANNA: If they don't think we're doing a good job, everything that we've done here is all in vain.

ENGEL: Apache Company has lost two soldiers and now worries their country may be abandoning the mission they died for. Richard Engel, NBC News, Baghdad.

LOAD-DATE: January 27, 2007

Fats Limbaugh mentioned Arkin's post today and Arkin has replied to his critics, here and here.
I have made several posts about soldiers who do feel that Iraq is a fiasco (here, here and here) and they make it clear that many have the same view of Iraq as the majority of the American people.