Words To Live By......

This Almost Made Me Cry With It's Truth

By Dan Froomkin
froomkin@niemanwatchdog.org

Lessons we thought had been learned from Vietnam were forgotten in the rush to invade Iraq. And now, as we cover President Bush’s ratcheting up of the rhetoric against Iran, it’s looking like the lessons we should have learned from Iraq may not have been learned at all. So at the risk of stating the obvious, here are some thoughts about what those lessons were. (Feel free to add more in comments.)

You Can’t Be Too Skeptical of Authority

1. Don’t assume anything administration officials tell you is true. In fact, you are probably better off assuming anything they tell you is a lie.

2. Demand proof for their every assertion. Assume the proof is a lie. Demand that they prove that their proof is accurate.

3. Just because they say it, doesn’t mean it should be make the headlines. The absence of supporting evidence for their assertion -- or a preponderance of evidence that contradicts the assertion -- may be more newsworthy than the assertion itself.
Don’t print anonymous assertions. Demand that sources make themselves accountable for what they insist is true.

Provocation Alone Does Not Justify War

4. War is so serious that even proving the existence of a casus belli isn’t enough. Make officials prove to the public that going to war will make things better.

5. Demand to know what happens if the war (or tactical strike) doesn’t go as planned?
Demand to know what happens if it does? What happens after “victory”?

6. Ask them: Isn’t it possible this will make things worse, rather than better?

Be Particularly Skeptical of Secrecy

Don’t assume that these officials, with their access to secret intelligence, know more than you do.

Alternately, assume that they do indeed know more than you do – and are trying to keep intelligence that would undermine their arguments secret.

The entire article is MUST READ.
If only our press and media read it also...