Liberals vs Liberals on the war

So William Arkin wrote a post trashing the troops saying that they're not better than the rest of us and calling them mercenaries. Then he came back and apologized (sort of) for calling them mercenaries. Then he came back with a new post pretty much reiterating his original point and he said something interesting:

"I said I was bothered by the notion that "the troops" were somehow becoming hallowed beings above society, that they had an attitude that only they had the means - or the right - to judge the worthiness of the Iraq endeavor."

What's extremely ironic about this statement is the fact that it directly contradicts Maureen Dowd and others who claim that victims of a tragedy (parents who buried their children who died in Iraq) have an absolute moral authority regarding the war.

So which is it liberals? Is it only the troops who can made decisions and judgements regarding the war (as Dowd says) or everyone (as Arkin says)??