"All governments lie"

I.F. Stone, one of the greatest journalists this country ever produced, once said:

All governments lie, disaster lies in wait for countries whose officials smoke the same hashish they give out.

What governments lie about most are wars: why they are starting them, how they are going and when and how they will be victorious. The founders of this country gave the exclusive responsibility of declaring war to Congress, therefore Presidents who want to start and/or escalate wars have to lie in order to convince Congress to let them. That's why governments hate people who tell the truth. Nothing interferes more with the smooth workings of U. S. administrations than the truth. Granted the "Afghan Papers" don't compare with the "Pentagon Papers" in terms of what they reveal, but what they are doing is provoking a new conversation about Afghanistan, that may be reward enough. We need to thank those who tell the truth, not harass them.