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By the time of the war of the Ringthere was no chance of winning the war by military means and thus I would see the force as a drainer of well needed men and resources...
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Perhaps not of the whole war, but battles could be won. The Battle of the Pellenor Fields was crucially important. It was the true Battle of Gondor, as had it been lost, then Gondor would have fallen. Raids in Ithilien -- such as the one we saw, led by Faramir -- were important, and you must see the point of them. They damaged Mordor's forces. Gondor had to continue the war against Mordor, as it was only by keeping up this war and not being defeated that they could survive. They were fighters to the end. Damage done to Haradrim in Ithilien was damage done to the enemy; an enemy which was weakened as a result.
The Haradrim forces had to be met in battle sooner or later. If this battle was an ambush, executed by the Gondorians skillfully in country that the Dunedain had far superior knowledge of, then they had an advantage. The army that they destroyed would otherwise have been used against them, which is not a good thing. Perhaps they foresaw another, open battle, that would otherswise have been lost, possibly tipped in their favour by such raids.
An ambush, initiated by Faramir, stood a better chance of inflicting decent losses on the enemy without suffering much loss on his own side, and the Haradrim invaders were so much the weaker.