Turning Tides in Iraq?

From Daily Kos

Whether it's the surge of Ned Lamont's candidacy, or the latest Gallup polling showing majority support from Americans for withdrawal sooner rather than later, or the unrelenting horror that every day in Iraq brings, the reality and magnitude of the Iraq Debacle finally seems to be setting in with the nation's traditional media opinion shapers.
Today brings the remarkable departure of one of the administration's most valued war backers, Tom Friedman. Think Progress has these excerpts:
[T]hree years of efforts to democratize Iraq are not working. That means "staying the course" is pointless, and it's time to start thinking about Plan B -- how we might disengage with the least damage possible.
...But the administration now has to admit what anyone -- including myself -- who believed in the importance of getting Iraq right has to admit: Whether for Bush reasons or Arab reasons, it is not happening, and we can't throw more good lives after good lives.
Finally, the war in Iraq has so divided us at home and abroad that leaving, while bringing other problems, might also make it easier to build coalitions to deal with post-U.S. Iraq, Iran, Hezbollah and Syria. All these problems are connected. We need to deal with Iran and Syria, but from a position of strength -- and that requires a broad coalition.
The longer we maintain a unilateral failing strategy in Iraq, the harder it will be to build such a coalition, and the stronger the enemies of freedom will become.
I've never understood Friedman's unrelenting conviction over the past three years that we needed just six more months to achieve a stabilized Iraq, or indeed his support of the invasion in the first place. But there can be no question of the impact his support had for propping up the administration's policy. His vaunted expertise and position as the leading voice of foreign policy analysis at the nation's newspaper of record made his support for this ridiculous venture critical, providing validation for the war from the egg-headed so-called left that the Bushies hate, but need for cover.
So his abandonment of the administration policy in the Mid East is significant, and worthy of note. While we have to lament the loss of one of Atrios's most brilliant snarks, it's good to be able to welcome Friedman to the reality-based world. Expect to see many more in the punditocracy follow in his wake.