Governments--or, to be more specific, political leaders--have a notoriously difficult time apologizing for official mistakes. And, no, this is not a post about the failure to find WMD in Iraq or about the confirmation hearings for Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales. It is, instead, a post about an apology that was actually offered.
Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized publicly today to those who were wrongfully imprisoned for an IRA bombing in 1974. The sentences were overturned for four of the defendants--the "Guildford Four"--by a British court in 1989. The remaining defendants had their sentences overturned in 1991.
Here's the story in The Guardian.