An op-ed in today’s LA Times tells us that the American Democratic Party must define success in Iraq, if it wishes to pose a more effective opposition to President Bush’s foreign policy.  It is only by seizing control of the definition of success that Democrats can delineate Bush’s failures.

     There may be some political truth in that idea.  But there is also truth in its opposite.  It seems to me that it is incumbent upon President Bush to define what failure is in Iraq in order for the US to begin to learn from the whole sad experience.  Of course, Bush and company are absolutely paranoid about admitting any sort of mistake.  But the Iraq fiasco has reached a point that even erstwhile supporters of the war realize it has descended into quagmire status.  The failure to reach compromise on the constitution may now set Iraq on a course of increasing violence as the various sides try to influence the referendum due for October.      

     We are well past the time when Bush’s personal political calculations should stand in the way of national interests.   There are various ways in which America has failed in Iraq.  And until there can an honest, searching national discussion of those failures, from the very top of the political order down, the US will not be able to benefit from the wisdom of Mencius (which is echoed in many other sources across time and place):

We change and grow only when we make mistakes.  We realize what to do only when we work through worry and confusion.  And we gain people’s trust and understanding only when our inner thoughts are revealed clearly in our faces and words. (230-231).