I Was Wrong
What a novel concept

"I was wrong."

It is a three word paragraph that many Americans have been hungering to hear from the political leaders that got us into the Iraq quagmire. One more has stepped up to assume some responsibility. In his editorial in the WP, The Right Way in Iraq , John Edwards begins with those words and proclaims morality requires honesty. Here are a few excerpts:

Almost three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what many of us believed and argued -- was a threat to America. But in fact we now know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our forces invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in some cases, manipulated to fit a political agenda.

It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't make a mistake -- the men and women of our armed forces and their families -- have performed heroically and paid a dear price.The world desperately needs moral leadership from America, and the foundation for moral leadership is telling the truth.

While we can't change the past, we need to accept responsibility, because a key part of restoring America's moral leadership is acknowledging when we've made mistakes or been proven wrong -- and showing that we have the creativity and guts to make it right.

There actually seems to be a shift in public perception: admitting you were wrong displays strenght not weakness. We may owe that to the absurdity of our president's posturing.