The End of Rose-Petal Fantasies

Let us consider the case for optimism about Iraq. A fool's errand, you say, and you may be right. The road from here to anything resembling a functioning country is daunting. But now, at least, we are brutally aware of all the plans and strategies that haven't worked. Our universe of potential idiocies has been diminished, and this painful wisdom may, in itself, be cause for dour optimism. Long past are the days when a U.S. proconsul, the extremely unfortunate L. Paul Bremer, would attempt to design a new Iraqi national flag (and...