The 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq has prompted some to reflect on a decade that began with the fall of a dictator but descended into a maelstrom of deadly violence. Benefiting from a heavy dose of hindsight the world has been asking “what went wrong?”

Some of the soul-searching has been by the media itself. A handful of journalists have admitted to misjudgements in the run-up to the invasion – but is owning up to a mistake the same as questioning your culpability? As the US government beat the drums for war, journalists, commentators and TV anchors did more than just report the news they played along, taking dubious intelligence as fact and waving the flag when more of them should have been raising alarm bells.

How can journalists be a check on power if they cannot admit to a collective capitulation of their duty to question? And if the media cannot admit to their failings, whither the next ill-advised military adventure, when the drums sound once again.