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...And yet: The reduction of violence is real. The defeat of Al Qaeda in Iraq--sneezed at by some antiwar commentators--is nothing to sneeze at. The bottom-up efforts to reconcile Sunnis and Shi'ites across the scarred Anbar/Karbala provincial border, which I wrote about a few weeks ago, quite possibly reflect an Iraqi exhaustion with violence that has to be taken seriously as well. There is no question that the performance of the US military has improved markedly under the smarter, more flexible and creative leadership provided this year by General Petraeus. And the withdrawal of U.S. troops is beginning. The refusal of the antiwar movement--or some sections of it--to recognize these developments isn't helping its credibility...
Also obvious: There are fewer votes now in Congress--and less cause--to cut off funding for the war than there were last Spring. A renewed campaign on the part of the hapless Democratic leadership to cut off the supplemental funds will only increase the public sense of Democratic futility. It will also play into the very real, and growing, public perception that Democrats are too busy wasting time on symbolic measures (like trying to cut off funds for the war) and shoveling pork (the water projects bill) to pass anything substantive for the public good. Too much time, and political capital, has been wasted fighting Bush legislatively on the war. I'm sure the President and the Republican Party are salivating over the prospect that Democrats will waste more time and capital over it this month...especially at a moment, however fleeting, when the situation on the ground seems to have improved in Iraq. Democrats need to think this over very, very carefully before they proceed.
You'll want to read the whole thing, I've left out the criticism of the war, Bush, etc. Bottom line, even the left is beginning to recognize the war is 'not lost,' in fact, we're winning, if not won it...
