John Edwards Says He Was Wrong About Iraq

Here's a fascinating piece from tomorrow's Washington Post in which John Edwards utters the hardest words for any politician to utter, "I was wrong."

In the last few days, the President and his administration have continued to misrepresent the circumstances surrounding the War in Iraq and their manipulation of intelligence in the runup to the war.

In the face of Bush's total failure of leadership, continued distortions of the truth, and complete inability to acknowledge a mistake, Edwards candor is all the more refreshing.

Here's a taste:

I was wrong.

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.