Imagine this controversy was a murder trial. Opening arguments are over.
The prosecution insists the defendant is guilty and says the state has direct evidence of guilt.
American people/judge: “OK. Let’s see your evidence.”
Prosecution: “Your honor, are you questioning our veracity? We’ve got scads of evidence!”
Judge: “Introduce it or stop wasting our time.”
crickets
Case dismissed.
When INTEL doesn’t pan out as previously reported there is a scurry to remove the egg from their faces. Witness Tet and the spurious body counts that were totally off. The Army wanted big numbers to justify their costs, surge, and tactics, yet the regional counts by agents in the field told a far different story.
The terrible consequence of the Pentagon squashing the real data was a totally unprepared and confused response. We were lucky but just lucky enough.