The US military should inform the American public more about the situation in Iraq to boost domestic support for the government's war policy, a top US general said Thursday.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, made the remarks in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington.

He said all defense personnel should do a better job spreading the word about the progress in Iraq, calling on them to discuss the war among themselves and in the community at large.

Explaining US President George W. Bush's "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq" that was published Wednesday, Pace said victory in the war on terrorism won't be something with "a signing ceremony."

Instead, he said, short-term victory will be the progress made in Iraq, mid-term victory will be Iraqis taking the lead in their own country and long-term victory will be "a free and peaceful Iraq living in peace with its neighbors and no longer hospitable" to terrorists.

As Bush did in his speech Wednesday, Pace skimmed over the number of Iraqi battalions capable of fighting on their own -- believed to be only one -- and instead focused on the way the military describes units ready to function on their own.

Addressing the call for a plan of withdrawal from Iraq, the general repeated Bush's slogan that "there is no option but victory."

Pace claimed that the terrorists have laid out a plan for global domination in 100 years, but he said the war against terror -- which he described as "a long war" -- will be won, particularly with a global coalition.

In addition, the general said while Iraq occupies front and center in the war on terrorism, other areas are under scrutiny.

Pace's speech was seen by many as part of the newly-launched White House campaign to convince the US public that the war in Iraq will end in victory, not just a pullback.

Source: Xinhua