Only on this understanding was David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionists, able to persuade his party to retreat from its earlier position of insisting that it would never sit in government with Sinn Fein unless decommissioning was already under way (itself a retreat from the position that decommissioning would have to be completed first).
And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care or education or the need to find good jobs for every American.
This is a now or never moment - kick polio off the planet over the next few years or face a humiliating retreat which could see the virus re-emerge in scores of countries.