General appeals for support at home

WASHINGTON -- The nation's top military officer gave an impassioned defense yesterday of the military's mission in Iraq, making an unusual plea for support just two weeks before congressional elections in which growing anger over the war has become a defining issue of the campaign.

Marine Corps General Peter Pace , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed confidence that the US military can prevail in Iraq, but only if it has the full support of an American public that grasps the stakes and the need to stick it out for years.

"We as a nation have capacity to do whatever we need to do for the long haul to protect our children and our grandchildren," Pace said at a Pentagon news conference. "We proved it against the Soviet Union. Once our fellow citizens understood the nature of the threat to this nation, it didn't make any difference who was in the White House."

He described the Iraq war as central to the larger struggle against Islamic extremists. Pace expressed confidence that Americans are up to the challenge.

"As we move forward in the war on terrorism and as more and more of our fellow citizens understand the true nature of this enemy, we will see a nation that as always pulls together and does what we must do to protect ourselves," he said.

But in a clear reference to the need to maintain public support for the war, the general said: "The American people are the center of gravity for our enemies."

Pace maintained that the timing of his remarks had nothing to do with the US political calendar, saying that it was part of a series of public events designed to speak more directly with the public. Still, it was the first time Pace took to the podium in the Pentagon briefing room without Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld , and his comments were seen by some as unusual for a four-star general in the heat of an election campaign.

Retired Army Colonel William Taylor, a professor at Georgetown University, said Pace's comments reflected a concern that American politics is becoming an obstacle for the US military in Iraq.

"The textbook tells you that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs is not a political animal," Taylor said. "But Peter Pace is aware of the concern among the American people about the war in Iraq and this was his attempt to say, 'We the military are here, it's tough fighting, we do have a strategy."'