As I predicted, the stories of success in Iraq cannot be ignored or dismissed. As the progress on the ground mounts, so do the stories of success mount. And so we find more and more examples that Bush was right and the liberals were terribly, horribly wrong. From The Guardian in the UK:

Central to Gordon Brown’s strategy on becoming Prime Minister was to distance himself from the policies of his predecessor, including, naturally, the war in Iraq.

This was achieved with remarkable ease. In Washington he was brusque with President Bush, where Tony Blair was chummy. He announced long-scheduled troop withdrawals as if they were his own principled interventions.

…

So the Iraq debate has fallen silent. That is extraordinary, not just because Allied forces are still risking their lives to safeguard a fledgling democracy, but because there are signs they are having some success.

That is, of course, a relative concept. But there is evidence that unfettered violence is subsiding and fragile stability emerging. Last month saw the lowest death toll in 18 months. In Baghdad, monthly civilian casualties between May and October fell from 1,070 to 317, still too many, but part of an encouraging trend. Iraqis are beginning cautiously to wonder whether, thanks to US General Petraeus’s military ‘surge’, the tide might have turned.

The tide has turned, the past four months have shown that much. Now the only question is the crippled and despised al-Qaeda able to change the path of Iraq? Of course not. Not when it is the Iraqis themselves hunting them down. Here is an example of how exposed al-Qaeda now is in Iraq when locals turn on them:

Coalition forces saw a possible glimpse of the future in Hawr Rajab recently, when they observed Concerned Local Citizens (CLC) at a checkpoint come under attack from insurgents, defend themselves, and then receive reinforcements from Iraqi Army troops, Oct. 31.

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Initial reports from concerned citizens indicated the insurgents were attacking from a position behind a canal, approximately 400 meters from the checkpoint.

As 1-40th Cav. Regt. troops saw the events unfold, 1st Lt. Daniel L. Doverspike, a platoon leader for Troop A, contacted the Iraqi Army (IA) troop commanders in the area. He asked IA commanders to move the tanks belonging to the newly arrived IA mechanized company into position and assist the concerned citizens at the checkpoint.

When the tanks arrived, they engaged the enemy forces, alongside their concerned citizen counterparts.

The story gets better – go read it all. But the essence of it is the same – Iraqis fighting al-Qaeda to the death with our assistance. Here is another example of how the tide has turned:

Less than 12 hours after insurgents set off a bomb that killed two of their soldiers, three members of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment paid a visit to Col. Muhammad, the commander of a local Iraqi army battalion.

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He then announced that he’d received a tip from a source that could lead the Americans to the insurgent who placed the bomb that killed the two soldiers earlier that day.

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“But he says that it’s best to go tomorrow night,” Muhammad said. “Because right now, there are too many people around.”

“We’d definitely make some engineers happy if we could snag those guys,” said Teege, 37, of Marquette, Mich.

Twenty-four hours later, about 40 soldiers from Company A’s 1st Platoon received a final briefing on the raid. Lt. Col. Eric Welsh, the 2-7 Cavalry battalion commander, reminded the men to keep their emotions in check during the operation.

Needless to say the story ends with some captured al-Qaeda thugs. The succeses are breeding a trust and camaraderie that binds Iraqis to their American allies:

Declaring near-victory against al-Qaida, Sunni officials from Iraq’s Anbar province laid out Friday what they want now from the United States: money to rebuild its battle-damaged cities, help expanding its police force by a third and private U.S. investment in its oil reserves.

“We united and that’s why we obtained victory. So we are asking now that we compensate this province for all of the destruction it has faced,” said Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, whose older brother was assassinated after leading a revolt against al-Qaida terrorists.

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Huddled around a small table at the Washington Plaza on Friday, four members of the delegation—Sheik Abu Risha; Abdulsalam Mohammed, chairman of the Anbar Provincial Council; Maamoun Sami Rashid al-Alwani, governor of Anbar; and Latif Eyada, the mayor of Ramadi—said they came to the U.S. to seek continued support.
Speaking to reporters through a translator, the officials said they were grateful for the U.S. help against al-Qaida but still needed help to expand their police force to 30,000 personnel and rebuild its infrastructure.

Iraqis have repudiated al-Qaeda, are on the hunt to kill them, and are asking for America to help finish the job and allow Iraq a chance at its bright new, democratic furture. And the final pivot point – Diyala Province – is well on its way to becoming the next Anbar:

From the shop owners selling cigarettes by the light of generators to the military commanders poring over aerial maps, Iraqis and Americans are striving to understand the sharp decrease in violence over the past months and what it might herald for the future of Iraq.

The number of attacks against US soldiers has fallen to levels not seen since before the February 2006 bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra, which touched off waves of sectarian killing, according to US military statistics

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In Baghdad’s Amiriya district, where 14 US soldiers were killed in May alone, there has not been a roadside bomb explosion since 7 August, said Lieutenant Colonel Dale Kuehl, battalion commander in the area. The last mortar or rocket attack was in July. ‘Al-Qaeda overplayed their hand in Amiriya and the locals rose up against them,’ said Kuehl. ‘I have eaten dinner in several homes and even went to a wedding. None of this would have been feasible six months ago.’

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In Diyala province there has been an ‘absolutely dramatic decrease of violent acts’ since US reinforcements arrived and made an aggressive effort to partner with these resident volunteers, according to US commander Col David Sutherland. ‘We’re seeing new businesses open every day; the children are back in school,’ he said.

Even after all this some liberals refuse to see beyond the propaganda produced in DC and NY City. Oh well, some are always brain washed to some degree it seems. The waves of success are washing over Iraq. The full result will not be seen for another month or so, but there is very little al-Qaeda can do to turn things around. When they massacred the Iraqi people they made an enemy more potent that any they have yet had to face. The caused the Muslim street to rise and make a choice. And the choice was to ally with America and destroy al-Qaeda.

Only a pathetically sick liberal whack-job is still looking for goodnews in the few atrocities al-Qaeda can still puyll off. They are out there – they email me with their dribble every day. But as much as they try and find glee and hope in dead bodies in Iraq, I know they are paying a price they will forever regret. They are wishing death on others so they do not look the fools for being so wrong about Bush and Iraq and al-Qaeda. But they were fools, and they were wrong. And each death they cheer with al-Qaeda makes them more Nazi than human being. This is how a soul dies an ugly death – by supporting fascists to appease their own low self esteem.