My definition of victory in Iraq is simply accomplishing the goals we set when we first invaded - removing Saddam Hussein from power and securing any WMD’s. We’ve done that. Mission accomplished. We won. What we’re doing now is clean-up. Iraq is, by definition, a democracy now after the elections, and that’s a bonus to us. If we end up with a pro-American ally in the Mid-East that’s also a bonus.
I look at it as: We’ve won the war, but not the battle. Sort of a reversal of the popular saying.