He said the operation was a success, though, because it fulfilled the State Department's three principle goals: the expulsion of Serb forces from Kosovo, the installation of NATO forces in the region and the return of Kosovar refugees to their homeland.

Rubin also blamed the 24-hour news cycle for the antagonism between media and government. Reporters now require government responses before officials have time to analyze events, he said.

But Jonathan Mirsky, a fellow at the Shorenstein Center and a former East Asia editor for the London Times sitting in the audience, disagreed with Rubin, saying reporters' cynicism came from their negative experiences with official sources.

It "began in the Vietnamese war because we [reporters] felt the government was lying to us," Mirsky said during the question and answer period.

Rubin responded that the government is now much more open and truthful with the press than it was at the time of Vietnam.

"The premise that government spokesmen lie is an old notion," Rubin said. "You should not assign to the current situation the experiences you had in the past."

Another audience member raised the concern that many Americans now prefer isolationism to foreign involvement.