Purging ourselves is indispensable to correcting ourselves. Disclosure and action are the surest ways to stop misdeeds. If we suppress disclosure, we encourage repetition. But each time we do so, each time the means we use are wrong, the strength which makes us free is lessened. In free societies, there are no permanent secrets.
Someone always tells.
The attitude that American interests justify any behavior is contagious. No agency can be allowed to be exempt from democratic controls. Coups and assassinations are reckless policies because their consequences can't be predicted or controlled. News from Great Britain reminds us that Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who replaced the freely elected Allende, awaits extradition to Spain for human rights violations during his 17-year dictatorship. Our part in toppling regimes in Iran and Guatemala has been at least as disastrous.