WASHINGTON, March 21 — Toby Gati, a former State Department intelligence chief, was asked by her college-age daughter how the war unfolding in Iraq is different from Vietnam. For the first time, Ms. Gati said, she felt tongue-tied. "My analytic mind takes me to a place my patriotic mind doesn't want to go," Ms. Gati said. For the moment, she says, she is hoping for the best. Across Washington, residents woke up on Thursday to find the nation at war and felt themselves conflicted or unsettled in different ways. Throughout a day of drenching rain and dreary skies, they gave...