We can handle the truth

Today's news is that the president's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, appeared on Sunday network news talk shows to defend the administration's position on Iraq and reject calls from moderate Republicans to start planning for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. This illustrates just how impossible the situation has become for this country and its citizens. If the president absolutely believes he's right, and has the information to back it up, then the U.S. should continue its effort in Iraq. Remember the days when the U.S. tried to do the right thing? Sure, that was before the days of demeaning and torturing detainees, before Abu Graib, before Guantanamo Bay -- was there a time before all of that? -- but still, we want to do what's right. But if the government won't tell us the truth, we don't know what's right.