Will the Public be able to swallow this pill and understand that this is a long war [DoD Town Hall]

Q Mr. Secretary, General Pace, I'm Lieutenant Speertu (ph). As a supporter of -- a strong supporter of the war on terror and the war in Iraq, as someone who receives e-mails from friends who have been out in the field showing all the good that we do out there, and a brother proudly serving in Djibouti, I become disheartened when I come in to work and I read all the articles about all the negative press that we get and how, you know, a lot of people want to pull out of the war. I'm curious what sort of assurances you can provide us that beyond this administration, that the American public will be able to swallow this pill and understand that this is a long war and that we're in it for the long haul.

GEN. PACE: (I'll try to keep my back ?) not to everybody here. I will let the secretary answer the question about beyond the administration. Let me talk about what I think we need to do in uniform. We need to be available to our fellow citizens in as many ways as we can, understand the rules of the game. Don't get frustrated about the fact that there's only five minutes on television per day, and that that five minutes is allocated to the bomb that went off because it's more news than the school that was built or the road that was built. Understand that environment, and then determine to get out to the American people in as many other ways as you can.

Folks like me, other leaders, need to be out and about, talking at our universities, talking to the influence people in various communities. More important, how about if we have a battalion that comes back from Iraq -- when it comes back, they get X days leave? Let's give each of those soldiers and Marines or whoever another five days, and ask them during those five days to just sit and talk with some group in their hometown. They can pick the group. It can be a church group, it could be -- whatever group they're comfortable talking to -- and simply in their own words explain to those people in that group what their personal experience was like. Don't have to go beyond that. Let's just get our folks out there.

We have in the Marine Corps for many years had recruiter assistance. Guys would go home on leave and get 10 extra days' leave so they can help the recruiter find another Marine. Why don't we have public affairs assistants? Let's get our guys and gals home on leave, and let them just go out in their communities and talk. Let's not say, "Woe is me. We're not getting the coverage." Let's figure out how to get the word out to the American people.

SEC. RUMSFELD: I guess I'd suggest two things that may sound, at first blush, somewhat off point, but they're not.

First, I think that we need to do a better job of teaching history in our schools, and to the extent that people have some knowledge of our Revolutionary War and the fact that there were just vicious divisions and arguments about what should be done; the Civil War, World War II. I lived through World War II. My father was on a carrier. And in parts of our country, they were just determined not to be engaged in that war…at all. And the vitriolic comments that were made about President Roosevelt, the -- I mentioned the Cold War and what took place.

I mean, even -- it is -- this is nothing new is my point. And if people understood that, if they'd studied history, if they appreciated the debates and the arguments, they'd have bigger -- greater confidence, it seems to me, in our country.

Fifty-two years ago, I was at a speech given by Adlai Stevenson to my senior class in college in 1954. He was between his two defeats to General Eisenhower. He lost in '52; he lost in '56. He gave a speech, and he said something like this, which is directly in answer to your question, that we have, as a society, placed all of our faith, all of our hope in the American people in the idea that, given sufficient information, the American people will be capable of finding reasonably right decisions on big issues over time.

What a gamble, what a risk. It's enormous. We see what happens to public opinion polls -- people go up, they go down. Everyone who tries to chase a public opinion poll just gets seasick.

In the last analysis, the America people have a darn good gyroscope, an inner gyroscope that kind of keeps coming back to center; it may get off tilt for a while, but it will come back. And I've got a lot of confidence in the American people. And in the last analysis, politicians tend to respond to the American people. They can be wrong for a period, but over time, they tend -- the American people tend not to be wrong.

So I have -- I think we're going to be fine over time, but there are some bumpy spots in between.

Wow. I've always been a big fan of Secretary Rumsfeld - he's a strong and steady guy. And General Pace is, too. I think his idea that the troops themselves will counter the media's negativism is a good one - there's nothing like hearing from someone who's been there (and by this I don't mean the lying SOB Kerry, either) and can bring back a complete picture (the good and the bad).

Thanks for the post -- the question is a good one, and the answers are interesting.

Of the two answers, I think I like Gen. Pace's response better -- he has concrete suggestions. Sec. Rumsfeld seems to say "don't worry too much," but I think we could lose this war with too much of that kind of approach.

SEC. RUMSFELD: I guess I'd suggest two things that may sound, at first blush, somewhat off point, but they're not.
First, I think that we need to do a better job of teaching history in our schools, and to the extent that people have some knowledge of our Revolutionary War and the fact that there were just vicious divisions and arguments about what should be done; the Civil War, World War II. I lived through World War II. My father was on a carrier. And in parts of our country, they were just determined not to be engaged in that war…at all. And the vitriolic comments that were made about President Roosevelt, the -- I mentioned the Cold War and what took place.

The MSM and the Left couldn't get away with half their crap if more Americans knew thier history.

Understanding American history tends to make most people more patriotic, unless they learn their history form Howard Zinn-worshipping academics.

Take your kids and grand kids and neices and nephews to historic sites!

Interesting point but look at it this way; Pace and Rumsfeld are members of our team. The first set of answers from Pace covered specifics while the Sec. Def. covered the big picture in historical context. In terms of this interview, IMO, this is exactly how our team should function. In other words, you wouldn't want your centerfielder playing first base when you already have a first baseman, would you?

You make some very good points. Overall I'm a huge fan of Sec. Rumsfeld -- I know he's not popular with many people in and out of the military, but I feel just the opposite, and I'm glad he's on the job.

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