How Can You Fix What You Say Isn't Broken?

The following is a snippet from a BBC news report. The bolded bit is what bothers me:

The suicide bomber who killed seven CIA agents in Afghanistan had been courted by the US as a possible informant, US intelligence sources have said.

They said he had not undergone the usual full body search before entering the base in Khost province, and so was able to smuggle in an explosive belt.

The attack was the worst against US intelligence officials since the US embassy in Beirut was bombed in 1983.

...

From the moment the bomb was detonated inside the base on Wednesday, says the BBC's Peter Greste in Kabul, questions were raised about how he managed to pass through security.

But now intelligence sources familiar with the investigation have said that CIA agents working from Forward Operating Base Chapman had been attempting to recruit the man as a potential informant.

"I know firsthand the excellent quality of your work because I rely on it every day"
Barack Obama

I know it 'socially polite' to say something good of the dead, but when mistakes are made then making blanket praise of the organization making the mistake strikes me as odd. How is it 'excellent work' if they make a major blunder? How can the 'quality' be excellent if they make this kind of mistake? If you trust the wrong people, doesn't that mean you are getting your information from the wrong people? How can it be good information if you accept 'facts' that end up being wrong?

I'm probably being too hard on these people, but it bugs me to praise something that failed. How can you fix a problem if your kneejerk reaction is to claim that everything is hunky-dory and that you are pleased with how things are going? I was raised in an era where generals and presidents kept reporting back to the American people that things were going 'just fine' in Vietnam and victory was always around every corner. It was a lie. It was lies piled on lies and many people died and were horribly injured because of the inability of those on the top to honestly look at the facts and call them as they were rather than 'spinning' them into some fantasy world interpretation.