The Chilcot report is damning. It exposes a litany of failures over a long period, including reliance on FLAWED INTELLIGENCE assessments, lack of planning and insufficient foresight of obvious CONSEQUENCES. But the report also exposes a chilling lack of rigour and a POLITICAL culture of deference.
Read MoreLike many Americans, I am still haunted by images from the LAST days of the UNITED States' withdrawal from VIETNAM in 1975. Newscasts showed South Vietnamese desperately trying to SCALE the walls of our embassy in Saigon to board the last helicopter flights out of the country. The fear in their eyes was CHILLING.
Read MoreI think it's wrong for the GOVERNMENT to subpoena RECORDS from JOURNALISTS INVOLVED in national-security reporting (particularly since I do it myself). I do believe it has a chilling effect on the ability to GATHER news about potential abuses masked by inappropriate classification.
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