As I noted in an earlier post this morning the Democrats dream of their oft-predicted American defeat in Iraq has been destroyed with the news that radical Shiite cleric Al-Sadr is extending his militia’s cease fire another 6 months. I would guess the 200,000 strong Iraqi security forces with US backing had a little to do with his decision. But the point is no massive carnage from a civil war is on the horizon.

But there is other news of progress out there, for example the return of normalcy in the simple act of traveling across Iraq:

The service between Baghdad and Basra resumed with little fanfare in December after a hiatus of 18 months. Few dared use it at first, but word has spread of a safe and cheap journey, and railway officials are scrambling for funds for more carriages.

“There’s been a great acceptance of the service … People do not feel anxious. They’re coming with their families,” said Abdul-Ameen Mahmoud, the railway company’s head of passenger transport.

…

Aboard the diesel-powered train, passengers settled in for the trip, oblivious to whether fellow travellers were Sunni or Shi’ite.

Women jiggled children on their knees and men chatted as the gleaming carriages pulled away from a spotless Baghdad platform, a picture of cleanliness and order in a country racked by chaos.

“Praise God, praise God for the return of the train. I was a bit afraid at first, but now I call on everyone to use it,” said a man who gave his name only as Mehdi, travelling with his family.

Each day Iraqis find another way, another reason to move forward together. Step by step. And each day in America the liberal left does its best to find a way to clutch defeat from the jaws of victory:

As Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) put it, “Democrats have remained emotionally invested in a narrative of defeat and retreat in Iraq.” Their Senate leader, Harry Reid, declares the war already lost. Their presidential candidates (eight of them at the time) unanimously oppose the surge. Then the evidence begins trickling in.

We get news of the Anbar Awakening, which has now spread to other Sunni areas and Baghdad. The sectarian civil strife that the Democrats insisted was the reason for us to leave dwindles to the point of near disappearance. Much of Baghdad is returning to normal. There are 90,000 neighborhood volunteers — ordinary citizens who act as auxiliary police and vital informants on terrorist activity — starkly symbolizing the insurgency’s loss of popular support. Captured letters of al-Qaeda leaders reveal despair as they are driven — mostly by Iraqi Sunnis, their own Arab co-religionists — to flight and into hiding.

After agonizing years of searching for the right strategy and the right general, we are winning. How do Democrats react? From Nancy Pelosi to Barack Obama, the talking point is the same: Sure, there is military progress. We could have predicted that. (They in fact had predicted the opposite, but no matter.) But it’s all pointless unless you get national reconciliation.

For those who think political reconciliation has not occurred, think again:

First, a provincial powers law that turns Iraq into arguably the most federal state in the entire Arab world. The provinces get not only power but also elections by Oct. 1. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker has long been calling this the most crucial step to political stability. It will allow, for example, the pro-American Anbar sheiks to become the legitimate rulers of their province, exercise regional autonomy and forge official relations with the Shiite-dominated central government.

Second, parliament passed a partial amnesty for prisoners, 80 percent of whom are Sunni. Finally, it approved a $48 billion national budget that allocates government revenue — about 85 percent of which is from oil — to the provinces. Kurdistan, for example, gets one-sixth.

Compare and contrast folks. The delusions of a failed movement to lose Iraq and the hopes and dreams of a free Iraq. Which side does any American want to be on?

Update: Here is a great list of the reasons Surrendercrats keep trying to surrender (a small selection to wet the appetite)

1. We voted for the war because brain dead Bush hypnotized us.

…

5. We need to send the UN back in to inspect Iraq for the trillionth time.

6. Surge? Scourge!! Gen. Petraeus didn’t fulfill our premonition of failure and therefore is a traitor.

7. It’ll ruin the USA’s reputation as the world’s biggest pinata.

8. Let’s invade Darfur, Kosovo, or Iceland instead.

…

13. We deserved 9/11.

Funny, in a sadly pathetic way since most of the items on the list come from actual statements of ‘reasoning’ by Surrendercrats.