When a Democrat is in the White House, they are not anti-war. They could care less that Clinton sent our forces over to Bosnia-Herzogovina in early 1993 with the promise that they'd be home by Christmas, only to still have them there years later. They could care less that he sent the Monica Missiles over to blow up a pharmaceuticals factory. They no doubt applauded his master stroke - of distracting media attention away from the blue dress DNA test results coming out that day. They were certainly not anti-war back then. They were not anti-war when the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was accidentally bombed.
Don't you get it? Bombs dropped by Democrat Presidents are GOOD bombs. They are moral bombs. Even when a few miss and kill the innocent, that's OK because they were well-intentioned bombs sent by a Democrat.
Bombs dropped by Republicans are, by definition, BAD bombs. They are evil bombs. They are NOT well-intentioned. How could they be, when they are sent by a Republican President? Any innocent lives mistakenly taken by these bombs are to be treated with instant outrage and Crocodile Tears.
The bottom line is that, when a Democrat is in the White House in control of the military, then the Democrats are PRO-war. But when a Republican President is calling the shots, then they are ANTI-war. It's not a core issue at all. It's just another stick to use to bash Republicans - just one more issue to perform a complete 180 on every time the White House changes hands.
One of the most revealing quotes to ever drop from the mouth of a Leftist occurred in January 1993. (Wish I'd clipped the article and saved it.) There are a number of inaugural traditions faithfully observed every 4 years (even by Democrats!), and one of these is a short ceremony at Arlington to honor the fallen. During this ceremony, Air Force jets fly by with one plane missing from the formation to symbolize the war dead. The entire town of Hollywood, CA was empty that week as its denizens were all in DC to celebrate the coronation of someone of their ilk. Some leftist Hollywood actor - I think it was Alec Baldwin but am not sure - was with the Clinton party at Arlington. Afterwards he talked to a reporter, saying something along these lines --- "When the jets flew by, I at first cringed at this ugly display of military power. But then, I suddenly brightened up as the thought occurred to me that, 'Hey! Those are OUR jets now!!'"
Just think about that last quote for awhile.