Iraq is the big issue in 2008, despite what denial by the liberal press and their unprecedented news blackout on the path to victory against global terrorism. Ralph Peters notes the most important story of 2007 – the massive defeat of al-Qaeda forces by Muslim Iraqis:

The greatest media story of 2007 was the one you never read (unless you read The Post): The year was a strategic catastrophe for Islamist terrorists – and possibly a historic turning point in the struggle against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

While al Qaeda in Iraq can still launch suicide missions, such acts now serve only to further alienate the Iraqi people, who’ve come to hate the grisly foreign interlopers with a passion you have to encounter first-hand to appreciate.

That fundamental change in outlook, especially among Sunni Arabs, may well mark last year as Islamist terrorism’s high-water mark, the point at which fellow Muslims by the tens of millions publicly rejected the message and methods of self-styled holy warriors who revel in the slaughter of the innocent.

Tens of thousands of fellow Muslims, previously allied with al Qaeda, turned their weapons against the fanatics. It was the biggest global story since 9/11. And it was buried on Page 14, if mentioned at all.

The emotional immaturity at work in the media to not recognize and report on what is happening in Iraq is probably the second biggest story – and why that segment of our economy is going bust. These news companies have only one asset worth any value – their credibility. It was a bad enough hit to their credibility to buy in so deep with the anti-Bush folks who would accept defeat by al-Qaeda if it meant vengeance on Bushitler. But as with all historic screw ups, it is the cover up that is destroying them. A bad call is one thing, trying to hide victory from the American people who have paid so dearly in blood and treasure for that victory is near criminal. And so watch as more and more people dump the antique media houses. They will also be a victim of bad Iraqi policies by the leftists.

What the liberal media has missed in hiding their heads and sulking is the fact that Muslims are standing up and fighting al-Qaeda:

Yet, for all that, the greatest strategic development – which will reverberate for years to come – was the Arab-Muslim repudiation of al Qaeda, an organization that claims to be the champion of Sunni Islam.

Islamist terrorism isn’t going to go away, of course. Countries from Algeria to Pakistan are newly endangered as fanatics turn from futile attempts to defeat America to punishing local populations. We’ll still see decades of bombings and assassinations.

But Islamist terrorism is no longer viewed as a solution by the masses of the Middle East.

Not only are the Muslims fighting them, they destroyed them in Iraq. The heros in Iraq are those in the Awakening movements who took on the al-Qaeda butchers. The martyrs in Iraq are those who died fighting them. How can someone be so petty – and a professional journalist to boot – as to not report this because it helps President Bush? Sadly the dying media dinosaurs are going to go to their proverbial graves hiding from the historic changes they have the fortune to live through. It boggles the mind that pettiness can run so deep as to miss out on one of the greatest changes of our time.

But enough of the blindered-folk in the media – they are history (pun intended). They are the “old-and-busted” as Will Smith said in MIB II. For the rest of us we have a path to victory to finish walking and – as Tony Blankley notes today – finishing that path will be no easy effort and will probably need to be passed onto the next President to complete:

Certainly it is historically odd for war reporting to diminish almost to the point of public invisibility — just as our troops are starting to gain the upper hand. But we are fighting this war with the journalists we have, not the ones we want. [AJStrata: but of course we don’t need to keep the ones we have and we can, over time, get the ones we want and deserve]

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But the polling data cited above would suggest that if the Democrats don’t see the war as a winning issue, neither can President Bush, and those of us who support the war effort feel we have the public behind us. In other words, the public now tends to think we are succeeding, but it doesn’t think it is worth the effort and would like us to leave pretty soon, anyway.

There would seem to be no higher communications task for the president and his supporters during the coming months than to make a better case that the success that may well be within our grasp is not only worth persisting over now but also that, even knowing what we know now, the war was worth the effort from the beginning.

It is time to stop being cagey our cautious and begin getting the word out. There were very few of us a year ago who could see the signs that Islam in Iraq was turning on al-Qaeda in Iraq. It wasn’t that big of a leap once you realize that taking up arms against former allies is not something that can be suspended. Those kinds of acts have to play out and the Iraqis always had the winning side. They had the numbers, it was their home turf, they had the US as allies, and they were the victims fighting to avenge lost loved ones and protect those still alive. They were just like us after 9-11 – they were outraged that anyone could kill so many of the innocent among us.

But now even the cautious at heart cannot ignore 7 straight months of success:

Update: Gateway Pundit has all the rest of the good news regarding other measures of violence in Iraq for the month of December – en update

Our forces are working with the Iraqis to flush the last remnants of al-Qaeda’s butchers from Iraq. The area north of Baghdad is the last area al-Qaeda has any significant presence. There have been major operations in the region to push al-Qaeda out of Iraq for good. Many of them now are simply done village by village, as seen here, because al-Qaeda has been pushed out of the primary cities. And there are more operations being planned for the future, as seen here. The results are now very predictable. We help clear an area of the thugs and the locals stand up to take control of their destiny, vowing to destroy al-Qaeda and support the new Iraq.

A reconciliation meeting between the tribal leaders of Khalis and Hibhib in Diyala province was held at the Governance Center in Baquba, Iraq, Dec. 27. The meeting marked the end of Operation Raider Reaper, a month-long campaign conducted by the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division and several companies of the Iraqi army 5th Division. The operation’s focus was to clear al-Qaida and insurgents from Diyala province. The meeting focused on keeping the peace post Raider Reaper, ending sectarian violence and finding a means to bring displaced families back to their homes.

Every sheik who attended the meeting took an oath and signed a written agreement. The agreement stated that the sheiks will work together to stop attacks against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces, deny use of land for insurgents, follow the government’s laws, resolve tribal conflict through the sheiks, guarantee equal rights regardless of sect, and allow the displaced families of Diyala to return to their homes regardless of sect.

These men are swearing on the Koran to destroy al-Qaeda. Not because the US pays them to, or because we hold guns to their heads. They are doing it all across Iraq because al-Qaeda’s bloody atrocities made them their enemies. And that made them our allies. Both Iraqis and Americans have been victims of al-Qaeda’s blood lust. It is no surprise we find ourselves on the same side in this war on terror.

And yes, that has made the war in Iraq worth every sacrifice in blood and treasure. Because to create and support a major groundswell in Islam against al-Qaeda is the most devastating thing we could do to Bin Laden’s dreams of world dominance. We destroy him by destroying his support (or in this case take advantage of him destroying his own support). Al-Qaeda has tried for years to pull the rug out from us, trying to destroy our internal support for each other. And the liberals with their BDS came damn close in making it happen. But in the final analysis it is the Americans who stood together, stood firm, and pulled the Muslim support out from under Bin Laden. And yes, that is newsworthy – and worth celebrating! And it is the most important issue we face in 2008 – how do we stay on the path to victory in Iraq and over al-Qaeda.