He writes what he does because he feels he needs to defend the country he served. It's difficult to insult the agency you worked for for years without feeling like you're insulting yourself. So, much cleaner to defend the acts of that institution through well-placed dates. As you've said earlier though, Beachcomber, any argument can be supported as there are enough "facts" out there for all of us. Let him cling to the shreds of the disappearing empire, it's probably all he's got.