It was notable that the pope’s plea for help was not directed at Iraq’s putative government. “His Holiness addresses an urgent appeal to the international community to take action to end the humanitarian tragedy now underway, to act to protect those affected or threatened by violence and to provide aid, especially for the most urgent needs of the many who have been forced to flee and who depend on the solidarity of others,” said the statement issued by the Vatican on Thursday.

While the president was huddled with his military advisers in Washington assessing his options, he could not help but feel the pressure. And perhaps no one could better understand that pressure than a man who routinely attended such meetings under three presidents and famously declared the “Pottery Barn Rule” prior to the launch of the Iraq war in 2003. According to author Bob Woodward, Powell told President George W. Bush, “You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people. You will own all their hopes, aspirations and problems. You’ll own it all.” He distilled the rule as “You break it, you own it.”

A decade later and after millions of American dollars, thousands of casualties and seemingly hundreds of different policies, Iraq is very much broken. Even though he has boasted of “ending” the U.S. role in the war and even though he didn’t create the situation, Obama very much owns the mess. And he finds himself on a timetable not of his choosing and very much at odds with his policy.