"Our military people on the ground are calling it."
If true, this is quite disasterous. Military people are not equipped for such a call. That is the province of the administration.
But I don't really believe it.
The administration keeps a tight lid on the military's "opinions". I read a web reference that said in 2004 numerous generals and other officers were reporting to Congress on various levels about the complete failure of the Iraqi army. The administration heard about it, clamped down, and all the testimonies of the officers did a 180 degree turn.
Sorry, I failed to save the reference, but I believe this happened. Nor is it as bad as it sounds.
Our military is superb. Not only the best in the world---one of the best ever (the Marines are in this category without question.) But the entire reason d'etre of the military is to obey orders---instantly and implicitly. No part of our society is less equipped to make policy. This is as it should be. Their job is to carry out the policy designed by others---loyally, bravely, and with the possible sacrafice of their own lives and the lives of their best friends. This is what we ask of them and this is what they do.
The Command structure is in daily, close consultation with the field and with the Defense Secretary. There are multiple, daily reports from the field. The U. S. Armed Forces of today are communication-oriented to put it mildly. The overall campaign has gone well; and we are meeting the deadlines for establishing the first democracy in the Arab world. The men and women in the field are meeting the test and are damn proud of their accomplishments. And, yes, considering the type of war, we have not done badly with casualities - consider the overall 405,000 U. S. war dead in WWII, a figure brought about by this nation's reluctance to early-on face the rising military aggressions of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Six thousand U. S. Marines dead on Iwo Jima alone. We need some faith in our military people. I've met some of them; and they are the best. Finally, it's not if we can win this war, but that we must win it - and will win it. If there are approaches that are not working, they will be corrected.