Since when have "politicians" and "courage" ever been used in the same sentence?

All of the tortured, twisted rationales for this war - all of the fatuous intellectual pyrotechnics dreamed up to justify it - have vaporized, and we’re left with just the mad, mindless, meaningless and apparently endless slaughter…If politicians here at home had the courage of the troops in the field, we could begin saving lives rather than watching helplessly as Bush continues to sacrifice them. Three thousand plus is enough.

• Bob Herbert