HH: General Abizaid, is the American media, and I understand fully your commitment to 1st Amendment freedom, as every member of the American military is always quick to say. But is the American media making your job easier or harder in securing stability, and in ending extremism in the region?

JA: Well, I don't know that I want to characterize what the American media is doing or not doing, other than to say it would be a huge help for everybody if we started talking about our enemies out here, what they stand for, what they want, what their vision of the world is, why they're dangerous, and how this is a worthy fight to fight at this level now, rather than letting it wait to get worse. And I think that's the unspoken story, it's the enemy.

The evening after the interview I was honored to have a meal with a young Marine lieutenant who has completed two tours in Iraq, and is currently based at Camp Pendleton. Ronnie's a Naval Academy graduate and is everything Americans hope our young officers are, including absolutely committed to victory and yet very concerned for their troops and for the future of Iraq.

We spent a lot of time talking about the enemy he and his Marines had faced and the conditions under which these Marines operated. He told me that upon return from his second tour he had taken every opportunity offered him from every group no matter how large or small to explain the war with an emphasis on the enemy and their inhuman cruelty and barbarian practices. He described the first beheading video he had seen and how it was important to watch even though it was so deeply repulsive. And he talked about their tactics.

Every once and awhile, we civilians catch a glimpse of the barbarians at the gate, as when the details of the London bombing plot leak out, or when the carnage of Mumbai is recalled.

But then Reuters gets to doctoring its photos, and Mike Wallace hauls off to Tehran and doesn't bother to ask President Ahmadinejad about the torture and the disappeared, the use of indiscriminate weapons by Hezbollah against civilians or the routine declaration of intent in jihadist websites, we begin to forget the reality of the war.

It isn't as though these are hard stories to find, or the intentions of the enemy difficult to discern. The MSM could in fact be doing its job of informing the public of the key facts of their lives. More from General Abizaid:

HH: General, I'm aware of your time, so I don't want to abuse it. I'll do two more questions, unless you want to go longer. I'll go as long as you want, but I know you're busy. Is the issue of pre-invasion WMD in Iraq closed in your mind, General?

JA: Well, I always hesitate, Hugh, to get involved in this issue that's become so highly politicized. Let me just say the issue of WMD is probably the single most important issue in the region. And every day, I deal with the intelligence of looking over what al Qaeda talks about. And as a matter of fact, all you have to do is go to their websites. They are looking for safe havens so they can gain time to develop WMD of some sort, whether it's chemical, biological or nuclear. They have the intent to use it, they have stated it openly, over and over again, and were it not for the fact that these people are trying to acquire WMD and intend to use it against us, and the technological capability in the world today might allow that to happen, I'm not so sure that the effort out here would need to be as big as it is. But we've got to keep these guys on the defensive. We can't let them get a safe haven, and we absolutely can't let them get WMD in their hands.

Have you ever seen a MSM story in prime time on the ongoing efforts of jihadists to obtain WMD? The sort of story that makes the threat real, and not some speculation about unnamed bad guys hoping to do unspecified bad things?

Which brings me to the last exchange with the General Abizaid: Continued...