Another Smart Diplomacy Update

Here’s USA Today’s addendum to this morning’s report by Bill Roggio:

Al-Qaeda militants in key western Iraqi cities launched a series of brazen attacks against police stations and fought battles with government forces Thursday amid growing sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

Al-Qaeda militants, emboldened by their powerful role in attempting to topple the government in neighboring Syria, have been exploiting a sense of alienation among many minority Sunnis in Iraq.

“It’s a perfect storm that’s been brewing for a long time,” said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq.

Read that last bit once more.

“Brewing for a long time.”

Did we ignore the warnings? Was the “hope” that it would turn out to be Arab Spring-inspired “change?” Did the White House believe its own election-year spin that al Qaeda was “on the run?”

I hope Jay Carney faces these questions, but I’d rather Professor Wiggleroom faced them himself.