An epochal moment?

Back in May of this year, FAIR plublished a widely-publicized list of Tom Friedman quotes on the war in Iraq. The FAIR review caught Friedman in the act of making the same "do or die" statements about Iraq for pretty much the entire duration of the war and occupation. Well, apparently Friedman's six to nine month window during which we would find out "whether we have liberated a country or uncorked a civil war" has finally arrived. Here's Friedman on the state of our efforts in Iraq in today's New York Times:

When our top commander in Iraq, Gen. John Abizaid, tells a Senate Committee, as he did yesterday, that ''the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I've seen it,'' it means that three 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.

First it was George Will. Next came David Broder. And now Tom Friedman has joined the chorus of voices calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. As Kevin Drum notes, all three are "cautious, centrist, establishment liberals who have long hoped for success in Iraq." That all three have now thrown in the towel is evidence of a fundamental shift in "moderate" opinion on the war. What's more, as a recent Gallup poll of U.S. public opinion on Iraq demonstrates, Will, Broder, and Friedman's change of heart essentially mirrors the American people's changing attitudes toward the war. I hope Repubs have a lot of "cut and run" stickers because pretty soon they're going to have to start affixing them on the entire country!