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More on the we've won front from Michael Totten:I’m reluctant to say “the war has ended,” as he did, but everything else he wrote is undoubtedly true. The war in Iraq is all but over right now, and it will be officially over if the current trends in violence continue their downward slide. That is a mathematical fact. Over the past few days al Qaeda has detonated several car bombs in Diyala. So, how is the war "over"? Totten goes on to say that the violence may never actually peter off to nothing in Iraq, but reminds us that violence...

14 July 2008The war continues to abate in Iraq. Violence is still present, but, of course, Iraq was a relatively violent place long before Coalition forces moved in. I would go so far as to say that barring any major and unexpected developments (like an Israeli air strike on Iran and the retaliations that would follow), a fair-minded person could say with reasonable certainty that the war has ended. A new and better nation is growing legs. What's left is messy politics that likely will be punctuated by low-level violence and the occasional spectacular attack. Yet, the will of the...

On a gray Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill Sen. John McCain addressed several hundred members of Vets for Freedom -- the largest Iraq and Afghanistan veterans' organizations in the country. In DC's upper Senate Park, McCain and other pro-victory Senators and Congressmen rallied for success in Iraq. The event was timed to support the same day U.S. Commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker returned to Washington to present their latest progress reports. Washington was one of VFF's last stops in the three-week National Heroes Tour, on which members spoke to and encouraged crowds...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced support for President Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, in an interview to be broadcast Sunday with ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "I think we should give it everything," Schwarzenegger said, according to a story about the interview posted on the ABC News Web site. "We should give it everything in order to be victorious." The governor said he did not want to see the United States "pull out of this war as losers," according to ABC, because that would be "disastrous" for the region. Schwarzenegger is a Republican who strives for a moderate image....

Democracy is slowly taking hold in Iraq and the insurgency is losing its Sunni support-base in Iraq, analysts here said on Friday. They spoke after some 11 million of Iraq's 15 million registered voters cast ballots on Thursday for a 275-seat parliament, a governing body called the Council of Representatives. Voter turnout on Thursday was about 70 percent, compared with 63 percent in October's referendum on a draft constitution and 58 percent in elections last January. "Basically the U.S. efforts are working and progress is being made, which doesn't mean there aren't problems," said Prof. Barry Rubin, an analyst with...

In calm, yet forceful statements of his administration's goals in Iraq, President Bush has correctly rejected all calls for a timetable to withdraw American troops from Iraq. Instead, he has reiterated that when the mission has been completed, the troops will begin to come home "with the honor they have earned." Absolutely. But, last night, as I was watching a rebroadcast of the last speech, I was thinking about what that phase might, and should mean. And at the very least, it should include a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, and a tickertape parade in NYC, up Broadway,...

The President's National Strategy for Victory in Iraq is helping the Iraqi people defeat the terrorists and build an inclusive democratic state. We will help the Iraqi people build a new Iraq with a constitutional, representative government that respects civil rights and has security forces sufficient to maintain domestic order and keep Iraq from becoming a safe haven for terrorists. To achieve this end, we are pursuing a comprehensive approach that involves the integrated efforts of the entire United States Government, the Iraqi government, and Coalition governments, and encourages the active involvement of the United Nations, other international organizations, and...