This is the first time I’ve heard Hillary make the we-did-our-part-and-the-Iraqis-screwed-it-up case. (Though probably not the first time she’s made it.) Bob Kagan has a somewhat persuasive response to this argument in today’s WaPo. But the simplest point to make is, um, no, we didn’t actually do our part. The Iraqis have unquestionably made their share of mistakes, but they were hardly operating under ideal circumstances, to say the least. I think it’s beneath Hillary to invoke an argument this ugly and crude. --Noam Scheiber