But he acknowledges the Washington bureau should have been consulted more.

Seymour Hersh may be making his stories up out of whole cloth, but they ring true. We may think we are leading the fight against ISIS today, but none of our allies seem to be following.

This is Sy Hersh. He is irascible, iconoclastic, irrepressible, difficult, passionate -- and still angry about governmental lies. And he is usually right.

The White House's blanket denial saves time and energy, but it fails to address Hersh's mendacity charge. I understand why the White House would not wish to respond to every negative criticism leveled in its direction, but this is different.