Time?

The New York Times is not only the nations most influential newspaper, it's also long been a relatively liberal voice in one of the most liberal regions of the US. New York city was the principal victim on 9/11, so it's unsurprising that the thirst for revenge was strong there, and that might help explain why the NYT largely rolled over and played dead as the Bushies emitted their vast cloud of lies in support of an Iraq invasion. In the intervening six years, spurred by the Judith Miller fiasco and the increasingly threadbare texture of Bush deceptions, the paper has made some stumbling strides in the direction of journalism.

Today the NYT editorial board published a long, thoughtful editorial advocating that we get out of Iraq. It's very late in the game. Most of America is well ahead of it, but better late than never.

It is time for the United States to leave Iraq, without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit.

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Like many Americans, we have put off that conclusion, waiting for a sign that President Bush was seriously trying to dig the United States out of the disaster he created by invading Iraq without sufficient cause, in the face of global opposition, and without a plan to stabilize the country afterward.

At first, we believed that after destroying Iraq’s government, army, police and economic structures, the United States was obliged to try to accomplish some of the goals Mr. Bush claimed to be pursuing, chiefly building a stable, unified Iraq. When it became clear that the president had neither the vision nor the means to do that, we argued against setting a withdrawal date while there was still some chance to mitigate the chaos that would most likely follow.

While Mr. Bush scorns deadlines, he kept promising breakthroughs — after elections, after a constitution, after sending in thousands more troops. But those milestones came and went without any progress toward a stable, democratic Iraq or a path for withdrawal. It is frighteningly clear that Mr. Bush’s plan is to stay the course as long as he is president and dump the mess on his successor. Whatever his cause was, it is lost.

In contrast to some of the facile stylings of presidential candidates, the NYT takes a hard look at the sequel.

Americans must be clear that Iraq, and the region around it, could be even bloodier and more chaotic after Americans leave. There could be reprisals against those who worked with American forces, further ethnic cleansing, even genocide. Potentially destabilizing refugee flows could hit Jordan and Syria. Iran and Turkey could be tempted to make power grabs. Perhaps most important, the invasion has created a new stronghold from which terrorist activity could proliferate.

The administration, the Democratic-controlled Congress, the United Nations and America’s allies must try to mitigate those outcomes — and they may fail. But Americans must be equally honest about the fact that keeping troops in Iraq will only make things worse. The nation needs a serious discussion, now, about how to accomplish a withdrawal and meet some of the big challenges that will arise.

One major subtext goes unmentioned. This war was always the project of the neocons and their right-wing Israeli allies. Its failure poses a real threat to Israel, which may explain Senator Lieberman's increasingly dishonest efforts to characterize the war as a success. I don't wish Israel ill, but this war isn't doing them any long term good, and most Israelis have been quicker to realize the bankruptcy of the Bush-Cheney-Olmert strategy than Americans have. In any case, we should not be spending more American lives and limbs on this failed project. Israel needs to decide what it can do to survive in a difficult world and not expect us to fight proxy wars for them. I suspect that the best chance is in compromise.

The NYT piece concludes:

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have used demagoguery and fear to quell Americans’ demands for an end to this war. They say withdrawing will create bloodshed and chaos and encourage terrorists. Actually, all of that has already happened — the result of this unnecessary invasion and the incompetent management of this war.

This country faces a choice. We can go on allowing Mr. Bush to drag out this war without end or purpose. Or we can insist that American troops are withdrawn as quickly and safely as we can manage — with as much effort as possible to stop the chaos from spreading.

We should not delude ourselves into thinking that ending our involvement in Iraq will end the challenge from radical Islam - it won't. The hole the Bushies have done so much to dig us into will still be there - but at least we will have stopped digging. Terrorism will remain a frustrating, painful problem creating inconveniences for all and catastrophe for a few. We probably cannot end it, but pursuit of rational policies can minimize the risks.

The US will face several very difficult problems in the future, and the reckless actions of these corrupt and foolish men have done much to exacerbate them. It's time to stop digging the hole deeper.