Viet Nam again

One of the most common ways that the government keeps secrets is to claim that they cannot reveal information because national security is at state. The recent story about Russia starting a war with misinformation is a case in point. When the US government released this information reporters asked for proof and the government response was you will just have to trust us. People my age well remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This was a story filled with misinformation that became the major impetus for the Viet Nam war. The government failed to release all the information saying it was a matter of national security. A few years later the secretly released Pentagon Paper showed regular pattern of government misinformation that exposed the many lies about the war. To use the excuse of national security to protect sources and methods is one thing but to use that excuse to start a war is something else. The recent drone attack that killed civilians while the US was leaving Afghanistan was misreported by the government and later news people uncovered the truth. Before the US gets involved in another war there are many questions that must be answered. What is the objective and what is the plan to achieve that objective and finally what would be considered a victory and is there an exit strategy. It would be wise not to make the same mistakes that were made in Viet Nam.