I don't think you want to hear everything that cops, doctors, nurses, and lawyers say about their work when they think no one outside of the craft is around. Without knowing the man, I don't think it is fair to draw conclusions about him from an excerpted comment.

The thread title does capture a point when it adds 'winning hearts and minds'. We are not just trying to kill off a bunch of folks and leave, we're trying to make a lasting sociopolitical change in a tough part of the world. If you're going to speak frankly, while in the middle of a highly charged political war, you also need to speak securely.

Several months ago we had an example of a US military leader likening his job to a crusade. That blew over but established the high visibility of so many of our troops that has become the standard of the current state of affairs. I believe the man was in his own community church and expected his words to go no farther, but he was wrong. Interestingly enough, an episode of the TV program JAG adopted this event for one of their better episodes.

Another point which we can legitimately bring in is the necessity of knowing what the Arab leaders are saying, not just for media broadcast to the west, but IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE. Thomas Friedman has made this point in his column more than once. One of the recent US news reporters caught an example of this, I think on PBS, how one of the Iraqi leaders said 'no timetable for withdrawal' in English, but 'there is a timetable, date not public' in Arabic.