It’s no secret that the State Department always puts a positive spin on its partners and seldom admits failure. How else could diplomats in Armenia describe it as the Silicon Valley of the Soviet Union? Or describe the impoverished, AIDS-ravaged African nation of Lesotho as “a good fit with U.S. policy goals in Africa such as promoting democratic values, free market economies, and health”?

Such hyperbole can be deadly, however, when it is used to cover up grave and growing threats to regional stability and U.S. security.