Even when soldiers returned home, social pressures probably led them not to talk at length about the issues they faced.

BBC: NEWS | Americas | US powerless to halt Iraq net images

For example, financial expert and talk show host Tom Sullivan let his home in Northern California go into foreclosure and proceeded to talk about it at length on his financial talk show.

FORBES: Don't Let Falling Home Prices Ruin Your Retirement Plans

Sheriff's investigators planned to talk to him at length once he was recovering at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

NPR: 1 Calif. Hiker Still Lost, 1 Found And Recovering

This did not strike me as unusual: Iranians often talk to strangers at such length, and with such warmth, that at a glance it is hard to tell old friends from people who have just met.

NEWYORKER: Election, Monitored

You do have to report those other things, he says, but it is his job as president to talk as he did at length yesterday and again today about the northern Iraqi city of Talafar, where he says it's being policed by Iraqi security forces.

NPR: Bush Takes Questions on Iraq, Rumsfeld and Wiretapping

Other than a little small talk at the NATO summit in November, Bush has not spoken at length to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for more than a year.

CNN: Will Bush forgive and forget?