Don't Tell Sen. Kennedy...

This report from Baghdad isn't all of the truth from Iraq, but it is certainly part of it. A part, alas, you will never hear in the mainstream media:

The wider Sunni insurgency — the groups beyond Al Qaeda — is being slowly, and surely, defeated. The average insurgent today feels demoralized, disillusioned, and hunted. Those who have not been captured yet are opting for a quieter life
outside of Iraq. Al Qaeda continues to grow for the time being as it cannibalizes the other insurgent groups and absorbs their most radical and hardcore fringes into its fold. The Baathists, who had been critical in spurring the initial insurgency, are becoming less and less relevant, and are drifting without a clear purpose following the hanging of their idol, Saddam Hussein.

Rounding out this changing landscape is that Al Qaeda itself is getting a serious beating as the Americans improve in intelligence gathering and partner with more reliable Iraqi forces.

In other words, battling the insurgency now essentially means battling Al Qaeda. This is a major accomplishment.

Be sure to read the entire article, including the comments about Gen. Petraeus's two major failures in Iraq thus far. They involved trying to avoid bloodshed by setting up "institutions" to create outlets for conflict. Mistake.

The loonies have only one outlet--violence--and they will only be stopped by greater violence on behalf of peace.

UPDATE: Here's another take on Iraq that's hard to find here in Boston.