My earlier postings about defining failure in Iraq have now been echoed in a prominent op-ed by Francis Fukuyama in today’s NYT.  He asks the question that opens up the possibility of starting to learn from the mistakes made in the war:

 Are we failing in Iraq? That’s still unclear…

     This may seem a small semantic shift but it signals a move away from assertions of imminent success – the Bush administration’s approach – toward a consideration of the meaning of failure. He goes on:

With the failure to secure Sunni support for the constitution and
splits within the Shiite community, it seems increasingly unlikely that
a strong and cohesive Iraqi government will be in place anytime soon.
Indeed, the problem now will be to prevent Iraq’s constituent groups
from looking to their own militias rather than to the government for
protection. If the United States withdraws prematurely, Iraq will slide
into greater chaos. That would set off a chain of unfortunate events
that will further damage American credibility around the world and
ensure that the United States remains preoccupied with the Middle East
to the detriment of other important regions – Asia, for example – for
years to come.

    This is only a first step, however.  Once we have begun to understand how we have failed, we must ask another, vital question: how do we learn to not repeat such failure in the future?