Scepticism over America's war on terrorism and its plans for Iraq is so rife that when US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote a memo agreeing as much, a media frenzy erupted. It is a good sign - the United States has joined the rest of the world in questioning the minutia of the Bush administration's policies.
Given the way the story unfolded and the friendly, peace-making trips to Asia this week by US President George W. Bush and to Africa by his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, there is a sense that the administration is evolving in a positive manner.
That was not the case until US euphoria over the victory against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein wore off around July. With rising numbers of US soldiers being killed, pride turned to passion. Families of military personnel called for them to be brought home, and the reconstruction effort was increasingly viewed as budgetary suicide.
Lawlessness in Afghanistan worsened and each new, authenticated tape from terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden aired by the Arab television network Al-Jazeera made clear that al-Qaeda and the Taleban had not been eliminated.
Yet Mr Rumsfeld, Mr Bush and other senior officials maintained a buoyant demeanour, assuring Americans that sacrifice was necessary to bring security to the world.
But last month, with British Prime Minister Tony Blair immersed in a scandal concerning allegations that he lied to parliament over the urgency to overthrow Mr Hussein, uncannily similar claims side-swiped the White House. Then, an inquiry was ordered to determine who leaked to a New York Times columnist the identity of a CIA agent whose husband was a vocal critic of the war.
Mr Rumsfeld's private memorandum to four top military and civilian officials at the Pentagon, reproduced on the USA Today website on Wednesday, was portrayed as proof that even the administration now acknowledged its strategy had come unstuck. A full version was swiftly released to the American media by the Pentagon.