Why can't countries/leaders have more of a sense of accountability?

I made this thread in response to reading about all the misdeeds the US has done, and all the bad decisions many of our presidents (including current one) have made. Now granted some posters that bring up things like this definitely have an axe to grind, but I have an open mind about such things and try to give posters who show cites about their facts credit where credit is due.

That said, it occurred to me that a lot of problems the US has on the international level seems to stem from the fact that they don’t have much of a sense of accountability when it becomes clear they did something that probably wasn’t the best idea. However, rather than apologizing about it, they seem to just pretend they didn’t make any mistake, and keep going with it- people might buy the deception at first, but eventually it just becomes embarassingly obvious screw-ups were made. So why not apologize? Does power justify being crass on the international level (it sure seems like it).

I myself can be a very stubborn person. I don’t like realizing that something I believed in was wrong. Its a humiliating feeling- It makes me feel gullible and foolish. However, there comes a point where I, even in stubborn pride, will lay low and admit that I was mistaken/misinformed. Why can’t administrations do the same? Would the backlash be so bad that it would better to LIE/DECEIVE the people about something, rahter than admit they made a mistake?

Not in relation to the US (it’s an issue that is by no means specific to the US IMO):

A mistake/misdeed that you don’t apologize for remains fudgeable. You can expect that time, sympathetic spin, public disinterest and plain historical ignorance will sufficiently confuse the issue.

If, on the other hand, you do the decent thing and come clean, anyone can nail you to the wall with your admission at any later time.

IMO it comes from the fact that the people responsible are no longer employed. A problem for democracies.