The Trump campaign – as was to be expected – denied that they had broken the law with their Arlington Cemetery visit (see yesterday’s blog).

Now the Army has confirmed that the Trump actions were in contravention of the law.  Sadly, they have declined to prosecute.

But for Australians it brings back memories of the 2001 Howard children overboard lie. If you don’t remember it, then Prime Minister John Howard, alleged seafaring refugees were throwing children overboard in a bid to get into Australia.

It was in the middle of the election campaign and the usual media suspects piled in with predictable rage, amplification and misinformation.

The Navy was on the scene and rescued the children.

In subsequent Parliamentary hearings Navy top brass were asked to verify the claim of children overboard. There had been much speculation about what the brass would say.

To the horror of many in the media and the Government the brass told the truth – that the claim was untrue.

The Australian military is far from perfect but, in a crunch, they almost always tell the truth.

The US military record has at times, as shown by their Vietnam era body counts, not been perfect. But it’s a lot, lot better than many US and Australian politicians.

Nevertheless, compared to Trump’s record of lying the US military are squeaky clean.