There are many questions about the future of Iraq, of course. There's a whole range of possibilities, from Civil War, dissolution, or emergence of a new dictator to peace and progress. Ultimately, though, don't those questions have to be answered by Iraqis?

I don't know that it was ever reasonable to think that the US could negotiate a collectively acceptable formula for sharing power or oil money among Shi'a, Sunni, and Kurd. I don't know that the US could ever assure that Iraq will continue as a US ally, or that other neighbors would not meddle. I don't know that the US ever had the ability to assure that Iraq would have a truly representative government. All of these things have to be worked out by Iraqis, and if they work them out the way others have, that process is likely to span decades or generations of effort, with successes and failures, false starts and steps backwards, violence and peacemaking. The new Iraq, whatever will be, is not a rabbit that's going to be pulled out of a hat by Americans. It will evolve, and the process of evolution is likely to be as painful and frustrating as it has been elsewhere.

If we left Iraqis with a half-chance at a better outcome, and with the ability to make those decisions themselves - neither of which they had under Saddam - we probably did all it was ever in our power to do.