South by Southwest: What does "in good faith" mean?

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

What does "in good faith" mean?

Support for the Military -
is not confined to Republicans. I am a liberal Democrat who is supportive of our professional soldiers. It is my opinion that they almost always "act in good faith."
What do I mean by this? When I searched my blogs for the phrase "in good faith" I found that I have used it fairly often, 8 times*, in fact.
Why was I interested? Because it is an idea that often comes up in my own internal dialogue. It is related to why it is that I either trust or mistrust someone. It is easier to make such assessments in person. But it also applies to someone I am watching on television.
For example, yesterday I watched a Defense Department briefing by Lt. General Martin Dempsey, Commander, Multi-National Security Transition Command. The general is in charge of training the Iraqi military and supporting the new national interior and defense ministers of Iraq.
I trusted this officer almost immediately. I asked myself why. Why do I belive that he acts "in good faith?" These are some of the reasons:

Openness and accessibility - He did not begin with a lengthy opening statement that would have set an agenda that discouraged reporters' questions.
Good communicator - He answered questions with fairly clear info, mostly free of military jargon. He is able to speak in "lay" terms that we all can understand. And he is a very good listener.
Appropriate boundaries - His responses were mostly free of defensiveness. And he knew what was his to answer - his job- and what someone else in the military should speak about. He seems to have good internal boundaries.
Respectfulness - He referred to Iraqi officials by name and with respect for their efforts. There was no tone of condescension. At the same time, he did not gloss over obvious problems without blaming. He comes across as nonjudgmental.
Humility - When he did not know an answer, he said so. Extremely intelligent, he was remarkably free of "spin." He seemed to be genuinely interested in reporting to those who hire him, the American public, and to their representatives, the press.
Intelligence - General Dempsey has a remarkable command of the nonmilitary issues that are at play in Iraq. He is a "big picture" thinker, that also displayed an amazing command of the smaller details such as the statistics of his command responsibilities.

I learned more about the military and diplomatic situation in Iraq from General Dempsey than from anyone in recent memory. It was amazing! He believes that "Iraqi leader development is the biggest challenge we face in Iraq," and he explained why without blaming.
Watch it on C-SPAN - I commend to your watching this 35 minute video from C-SPAN, called "Defense Department Press Briefing" 6/27/2006.
*My blog posts in S/SW with references to "in good faith":