Lost in all the back and forth about the National Intelligence Estimate on Iranian nukes is the shocking fact that such a document saw the light of day to begin with.

Is there any other nation on earth – perhaps in world history – that would share the deepest secrets of its intelligence gathering with its own citizens and the citizens of the world? And even more remarkable is the fact that by releasing this particular NIE, the government itself is forced to acknowledge an error in what it previously believed about an adversary – if not an outright humiliation certainly an embarrassment that every other government I can think of would avoid at all costs.

There are examples of democracies that have investigated their government’s actions and publicized wrongdoing or embarrassing incidents. But those revelations were dragged out the government as a result of official inquiries. What makes this situation different is that the release of the NIE was done voluntarily and with full recognition of the consequences.

Now before everyone starts ripping flesh off my bones for being a naive, jingoing, nationalistic, incurable romantic about America allow me to acknowledge that just about every reason you can give for why the NIE was released is probably valid. I hold no illusions that the government didn’t make the NIE available because it was bound to come out anyway. And when I say that the release was “voluntary” I don’t mean to imply that on a superficial level, the prospect that the report would be leaked didn’t play a role in the NIE’s release.

But in the end, for whatever reason, this is an extraordinary turn of events. The government could have refused to release the findings and then stonewalled when the document was leaked. Judging by the reaction on the right (and the dismissal of the key findings by the Israelis), the Administration may very well have been able to get away with not commenting on the report at all. To release it – reluctantly and trying to put the best face on the findings as they did – doesn’t obviate the fact that in some very important ways, the act of allowing the public to view the most secret deliberations of our government validates American democracy.

We live in a time when secrecy in government threatens our basic liberties as well as the concept of “open government” on which our democracy rests. This Administration has classified more documents already than any other in American history and has been more secretive in its deliberations than any other in memory. While recognizing that much of what our intelligence agencies do must necessarily remain hidden in order to protect the methods with which that intel is gathered as well as the lives of people gathering it, we as a people must demand that our leaders be as accountable for their actions as our national safety permits.

While recognizing this danger, we can celebrate when the exceptional nature of American democracy reveals itself. With great reluctance, the Bush Administration took a tiny step toward a more open government. I have no illusions that this will continue nor do I believe it redeems the Administration for the previous 7 years of obsessive, over the top secrecy.

But taken as a separate event, the release of this document should elicit feelings of pride that the core beliefs we hold about this country can be confirmed in such a public and remarkable way.