David Johnson wrote:

> I had the impressing from reading _Junkyard Planet_ that pretty much
> all of the principal characters were lying, extensively, elaborately
> and profoundly -- which means it's very difficult to judge with any
> confidence what any of them tell us might be happening -- or have
> happened -- "off camera" in pretty much every circumstance.

Extrapolate from that level of honesty to the governing institutions of
the Terran Federation as a whole.