How Rosy Reports on ISIS <br>Echo Long-Ago Errors <br>That Begat Catastrophes
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
It would appear, on the surface, to be one of the dumbest ideas on earth — falsifying or editing military intelligence reports to conform to the wishes of political leaders. Not surprisingly, the outcome is rarely positive.
One of the starkest examples occurred in the early days of June, 1967. Much of the world was taken aback when Israel, outnumbered in every strategic category, scored a completely one-sided victory against four much larger nations — Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. The element of surprise helped and the Israeli military was better trained, but a key factor can be gleaned from Michael Oren’s 2002 book, “Six Days of War.”
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