Lies, lies, lies

Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, an Army officer who traveled extensively in Afghanistan and spent a lot of time looking at the situation there, publishes in the Armed Forces Journal an assessment of the situation there that shows optimistic press releases and 'we're-winning' speeches by senior officers as pretty much a pack of lies. Davis writes

When it comes to deciding what matters are worth plunging our nation into war and which are not, our senior leaders owe it to the nation and to the uniformed members to be candid — graphically, if necessary — in telling them what’s at stake and how expensive potential success is likely to be. U.S. citizens and their elected representatives can decide if the risk to blood and treasure is worth it.
Likewise when having to decide whether to continue a war, alter its aims or to close off a campaign that cannot be won at an acceptable price, our senior leaders have an obligation to tell Congress and American people the unvarnished truth and let the people decide what course of action to choose. That is the very essence of civilian control of the military. The American people deserve better than what they’ve gotten from their senior uniformed leaders over the last number of years. Simply telling the truth would be a good start.

Go here and read the whole scary article. We must stop meddling in places we don't understand and where we have no business.