Hopeful Omens in Iraq
By Fareed Zakaria
Wednesday, June 2, 2004
In his prime-time speech last week, George W. Bush hit all his familiar themes -- we must show resolve, stay the course, finish the job, etc. But it masked a very different reality. Over the past three weeks the Bush administration has reversed itself on nearly every major aspect of its Iraq policy. Thank goodness. It's about time. These shifts may be too late to have a major effect, but they will help. The administration has finally begun to adhere to Rule No. 1 when you're in a hole: Stop digging. But it needs to go further and move decisively in a new direction. Consider the magnitude of recent policy reversals:
• The administration had stubbornly insisted that no more troops were needed in Iraq. But today, there are 20,000 additional soldiers in the country.
• From the start it refused to give the United Nations any political role in Iraq. Now the United Nations is a partner, both in the June 30 transition and in preparing for elections. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was the "quarterback,&