Iraq: Three realities

Iraq: Still Inscrutable, (New York Times)…Thomas L. Friedman, June 18, 2008

…Iraq has become one of those subjects that so many people now come to with so much emotional scar tissue that it is very hard to have a sober discussion about the actual situation there today. So much is colored by how you feel about George Bush or whether you were for or against the war. As a result, what we do next in Iraq — how and why — is barely getting discussed in the presidential campaign.

…  three conflicting political realities … The first is the mood of the American public …  the second is the reality on the ground in Iraq, which is no longer an unremitting horror story …. The third reality, though, is the fact that the reconciliation process inside Iraq … still has not reached a point where Iraq’s stability is self-sustaining.

“When it comes to Iraq, most Americans really want to leave, but they still don’t want to lose”