Indeed, a process that had been portrayed as essential to the quest for peace and possibly a crucial turning point in the war seems more like a messy compromise.

A decision over the issue of inter-enterprise debt was described by the Financial Times of Sept. 4 as "a messy compromise".

The messy compromise mirrored the chaotic nature of the conference, which virtually all participants said had been badly organized and run.

The settlement is already here, and it's a messy compromise in many respects.

As Congress lurches toward adjournment, the road is littered with dead bills, messy compromises and tactics dictated by future campaign ads.

I only ask because the decision to replace Sir Gus O'Donnell, who currently does all these jobs, with three different people is looking increasingly like a messy compromise.

"It looks like a messy compromise," said Klaus F. Zimmermann, the president of the German Institute for Economic Research.

I said, "But how would you feel if there were meta-sociologists looking over your shoulder, recording all your messy day-to-day compromises?

Thus the unconditional release of the peacekeepers demanded by the United Nations became another messy compromise.

It is a messy political compromise and nothing more.