Ok I did miss a big chunk of your statement, sorry. Aristotle believed that politics was the most noble thing one could do in life. I believe that service of ones country is indeed one of the most noble things whether it be in politics(I am talking about those who have an original thought and do not just follow private interests, for example), the civil service, military, or any number of jobs out there government or not that serve the national self good and interest. As for the military having to be careful. Naturally they need to be careful of non-combatants but also are under the scrutiny of Middle-Eastern extremists as they take any misstep as ammo for their actions. Also with regards to reports this was the problem in Vietnam because the reporters could go anyway. Now reporters are "embedded" and the military decides what is to be shown and not. The greater problem I see, that the media in their twisted and bias fashion tries to deal with, is the fact the our service men and women are clearly not being trained in the various conventions and treaties such as the Geneva Convention. I'm sorry but if a reporter saw a soldier shooting someone who is clearly a non-combatant then I believe it is their duty to report it. The problem is how the media twists everything to the point that the real problems get lost. They have turned the various infraction of the Geneva Convention on to a direct attack on the administration, where some blame perhaps should go, but the real blame should be the military that is not training their people.
