The rules of war imposed by political micro-management which limit the totality of the purpose, especially in wars of occupation, demoralize the army and undermine the esprit de corps of commanders regarding their soldiers in the field.
The right of the sovereign to defeat the external enemy as opposed to the prerogative of the sovereign to suppress internal opposition translates, when moved into the military theater, into a duty on the part of the commanders to use all available force to defeat the enemy and thus to shorten the moment of danger for their troops, as it is the duty of the commanders, regarding internal military discipline, to brook no insubordination from the troops.
The honor that has from time immemorial attached itself to military service came to an end in the Vietnam War where soldiers returned home to a general sentiment of dishonor; and it wasn't just for having lost the war, it was also because the honor code had changed and the honorable thing to have done in that time was to resist the war, not to fight it.
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