Sympathy For Condi

Condi Rice got grilled yesterday(NYT) in Senate hearings on Iraq(WaPo). The NYT article quotes her as saying something that strikes me as being profoundly true:

In three and a half hours of hearings at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ms. Rice was both conciliatory and combative, rebutting the gloomy assessments from senators of both parties but at the end offering a weary concession to Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois.

"I understand that, yes, it might not work," Ms. Rice told Mr. Obama, referring to American plans to raise the effectiveness of Iraqi forces and heal Iraq's fractious society. "But every day we have to get up and work at our hardest to make it work."

It is hard (espically for those like billy bob who might actually have to go over there and fight) to separate the justness of our being there from the necessity for doing what we are now that the die has been cast. But that is a separation that needs to be made.

As Rice recognizes, we may fail in bringing stability to Iraq. But I just do not see how we can give up on the effort, at least yet.

It is good to hear a note of humility, of a recognitions that there are limits to what we can do. But Condi fell well short of what really needs to be said. Here's what I would have liked to hear from the Administration:

Senator, let me start with an apology. We should never have gone into Iraq. I won't go into all of the ratioanles we had for the decision. There were many: some sound; some unsound; some entirely specious; some bordering on the delusional. I will leave it to history to evaluate all of that. But one thing we can say with certainty is that we made a very bad decision.

But the decision was made and, much as we might like to, we cannot now unmake it. We are there. The country is in chaos. And it is vitally important for America, the West, the Arab world and Iraq that stability be restored. I understand that, yes, it might not work, that we may fail. But every day we have to get up and work at our hardest to make it work.

Had theAdministration said something like this two years ago or even a year ago, the whole attitude of the country toward the war would likely be very different. As it stands now, though, it may be too late. We have reached a tipping point. The public is tired and frustrated, the President is crippled, support for the war is virtually nil, active opposition is on the rise, and even Republicans are beginning to demand schedules for bringing the troops home regardless of the results. We are on the verge of cutting and running. And, if we do, I shudder to think of the potential consequences.