AP REPORTS U.S. WINNING IRAQ WAR: THE QUAGMIRE THAT NEVER WAS

An AP report released today:

The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost.

Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace — a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.

This amounts to more than a lull in the violence. It reflects a fundamental shift in the outlook for the Sunni minority, which held power under Saddam Hussein. They launched the insurgency five years ago. They now are either sidelined or have switched sides to cooperate with the Americans in return for money and political support.

Nice job AP. The Big Feed declared victory almost two months ago. Meanwhile, Obama is still claiming the surge didn't work.

THE WAR IS WON!

Despite what the Democrat politicians want you to believe, the Iraq war is won.

The latest proof came last month, as the Iraqi army - just a few months ago the target of scorn and abuse from Democratic politicians and journalists - forcefully reoccupied three cities that had served as key insurgency bases (Basra, Sadr City and Mosul).

Sunnis and Shias alike applauded as their nation's army compelled insurgent militias to lay down their arms. The country's leading opposition newspaper, Azzaman, led the applause for the move into Mosul - a sign that national reconciliation in Iraq is under way and probably irreversible.

US combat deaths in May also were down to 20, the lowest monthly total since February 2004. The toll for May 2007 was 121.

In a Washington Post interview, CIA Director Michael Hayden said we're witnessing the "near strategic defeat of al Qaeda in Iraq."

The Bush administration has taken heaps of abuse for its Iraq policy, including its decision to launch the "surge" last December. Now the strategy, which our nation's "best and brightest" regularly dismissed as a failure, has cleared the way for the establishment of a secure democracy in Iraq and a lasting peace.

My personal opinion is that the war is as won as it will ever be. Iraq will never be completely free of violence and terrorism. Al Qaeda and others will always stage attacks of some sort. Just as they do in every other Islamic nation. But for purposes of establishing a new Iraqi government, and a military force capable of defending itself, that mission is accomplished. Of course, in the minds and hearts of those American politicians who have invested in defeat, they will never admit victory. They will point to any and all acts of violence in Iraq and claim it as defeat for America. That much I will guarantee. In observing the landscape of Iraq, however, as it exists today, there is nothing more the American military can accomplish that isn't done, or very close to being done. That is victory. Rejoice! And God bless America.