Paul Krugman needs to get a grip. It's very true that the situation is anything but hunky dory over in Iraq at the moment; to deny otherwise is either foolhardy or just plain foolish. And there is certainly an argument to be that there are some things the administration could have done better (particularly during the "planning" of the war...if such a thing ever existed) in its conduct, both on and off the playing field. However, to say that





"If America's leaders hadn't made so many bad decisions, they might have had a chance to shape Iraq to their liking. But that window closed many months ago."





just misses the boat. To act like we could've just walked in and transformed the country into another Timbuktoo overnight a few months ago (if we "hadn't made so many bad decisions") is just silly. Everyone, not just the administration, was just as bumfuzzled "many months ago" regarding what to do in Iraq. The last year, atleast what I've seen, has had a strong amount of complaints leading the arguments (many of which are viable), but no alternate plan leading to Ja'nna'h has been presented from what I've seen. For the moment I'll leave this discussion (for now) with a quote from Thomas Friedman that (IMHO) largely describes people's feelings regarding the Middle East.





"I'm fed up with the Middle East, or more accurately, I'm fed up with the stalemate in the Middle East."





See his article for his opinion on the whole mess.