And my husband, as much as he really didn't want to go - he enlisted in the Army because everyone he knew in our area who got drafted ended up in the Marines - and as much as he is not one who takes kindly to authority figures, still believes that civilians just have no business offering their glib opinions about fighting wars, and they have no understanding of what it means to be all for one and one for all lest people die.

So, I get it.

Government, and the military especially, are not given to being open or transparent unless someone or something is forcing them to be.  This president has gone out of his way to seek to punish, to intimidate and suppress anyone who is even thinking about spilling any of the government's beans.  We have a Congress that appears to be only marginally informed about what is going on militarily and in the intelligence agencies - and a president who has threatened to veto any legislation that would give the Congress more oversight.

We are losing, bit by bit, whatever mechanisms we have for keeping us free from total government power - that was my point in quoting Glenn.

Last night, I watched The Insider, with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, about tobacco company whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, so I suspect that some of my feelings about the efforts the government is going to to stifle information were magnified by that movie (even though it wasn't the government at work there, but the evil tobacco companies).  

There has to be a balance, Tracy; it can't always be that we aren't to know what's been going on.

Julian Assange had some interesting things to say about the criticism he is getting over the leaks:

Gates said Thursday that the massive leak will have significant impact on troops and allies, revealing techniques and procedures.

Assange rejected that assessment Friday, saying in a release that Gates "has overseen the killings of thousands of children and adults" in Afghanistan and Iraq [...]

"Secretary Gates could have used his time, as other nations have done, to announce a broad inquiry into these killings," the statement said. "He could have announced specific criminal investigations into the deaths we have exposed. He could have announced a panel to hear the heartfelt dissent of U.S. soldiers, who know this war from the ground. He could have apologized to the Afghani people.

"But he did none of these things. He decided to treat these issues and the countries affected by them with contempt. Instead of explaining how he would address these issues, he decided to announce how he would suppress them.

"This behavior is unacceptable. We will not be suppressed. We will continue to expose abuses by this administration and others."

When much of what we are told leads us to believe we are all about hearts and minds, the news reports that tell us how badly the effort is going make no sense; when we understand what has actually been going on, two plus two once again adds up to four, and we understand why we are still so hated.