I concur with my redlegged colleague.

We did drop the ball the first time around in A’stan. Truth is truth, we should suck it up. Did we OWE them? No.

Would have been smarter to help them? Yup, but we didn’t and we left it open. Bad things happened, and we could have done better. We should fess up and take responsibility and drive on. If we did more of that, we would be more credible. People make mistakes, and grownups own up. Let’s be grownups.