Have you noticed the utterly laughable political pardons and ass-covering that surrounded the worst failures of that war?

In any meritocratic society, the political careers of the people responsible would have been over, and a few of them should have at least stood trial for crimes against peace. Even if they were ultimately found not guilty, this is the kind of sword of Damocles that whistleblowers tend to face.

Instead, the only person of import whose career was truly destroyed was Collin Powell.