Dear reader, The project we are publishing this week on Afghanistan demonstrates the indispensable role that journalism plays in a democracy. We seek to uncover the truth about difficult subjects of national import. We are undeterred by obstacles erected by government or other powerful interests. And when we obtain revelatory original documents, we make them available and easily accessible so that Americans can see for themselves what has been done in their name. The Afghanistan Papers make clear that presidents, generals and diplomats systematically failed to tell the truth about the longest war in U.S. history. The Post sued twice for release of confidential documents during a three-year legal battle, obtaining 2,000 pages of unpublished transcripts and summaries from 428 interviews conducted during a federal project on lessons from the war effort. The government identified 62 interviewees. We are still in court seeking 366 names that remain blacked out. Please read The Afg