Last fall Anbar Province was a safe haven and operational base of al-Qaeda. It is not anymore. The Surge is designed to transition the trouble spots in iraq through three stages: secure, hold, build. It is now being reported from Iraq that many of the areas that were deemed unsalvageable a few months ago are now moving through these stages of evolution towards success, beginning with the capitol city of al-Qaeda’s last strong hold after Anbar fell:

Operations in Baqubah, Iraq, are transitioning to the “hold” phase of the “secure, hold, build” strategy, the commander of coalition forces in northern Iraq said today.

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Elsewhere in his area of operations, Mixon has recommended that Ninewah province — the capital of which is Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul — be transitioned to Iraqi provincial control. “That determination is made by people in the government. But from a security standpoint, there is no reason not to,” he said.

Salah ad Din province appears to be the primary area the enemy is moving to, Mixon said. The area most affected is the region between the towns of Samarra and Balad. “We are focused on those areas,” he said.

In Kirkuk, the general said, the security situation is improving and the Iraqi police are gaining strength. There have been some car bombs in the city, but the police generally have the situation in hand, he said.

The general also said he is closely watching the southern portion of Kirkuk province where it borders with Diyala, because Diyala province is the epicenter for violence in the region.

The report to Congress is going to be impressively positive. It will include how al-Qaeda was chased from Iraq by locals who swore on the Koran to fight al-Qaeda along side us – a stunning uprising of the Muslim street against al-Qaeda. It will include the transitioning of Iraq to at least “secured and hold”, which means we simply need to get the local Iraqi security assets up and operating. Will there be pockets of resistence – of course. Hitler is still, to this day, idolized by some wackos. But the fact is Iraq in general is turning a corner. And as it does so it is rejecting al-Qaeda and Islamo Fascism, and setting an example for the region.

I have been saying it for months, al-Qaeds destroyed itself through its murderous and cruel ways. But take this news from someone who has spent a year and half on the ground in Iraq, Micheal Yon. He knows this to be true too. And he makes the right point, if not figthing this evil now in Iraq, when will we fight back for humanity and America?