Opinion (Jim Hoagland): Meanwhile, Reality In Iraq

The Iraq Study Group

LONDON -- President Bush has finally heard some realistic, even brutal, ideas about finding a path out of Iraq. But few of them came from the politically interesting but strategically flawed Iraq Study Group's report.

The future of Iraq came calling at the White House three times during an extraordinary 72-hour period last week. History (or perhaps White House chief of staff and visit-scheduler Josh Bolten) was taking no chances: It was announcing clearly to Bush a last chance to salvage some advantage and honor out of this administration's error-riddled occupation of Iraq.

As often occurs when history-warping moments compete for attention, the most important event was the least conspicuous one. A visit to the White House on Monday by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the single most powerful Shiite political leader in Iraq, was quickly eclipsed by the manufactured drama of the release of the policy study headed by Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton on Wednesday.

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