al-Qaeda is on the run in Iraq:

There is good news from Iraq, believe it or not. It comes from the most unlikely place: Anbar province, home of the Sunni insurgency. The level of violence has plummeted in recent weeks. An alliance of U.S. troops and local tribes has been very effective in moving against the al-Qaeda foreign fighters. A senior U.S. military official told me—confirming reports from several other sources—that there have been “a couple of days recently during which there were zero effective attacks and less than 10 attacks overall in the province (keep in mind that an attack can be as little as one round fired). This is a result of sheiks stepping up and opposing AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq] and volunteering their young men to serve in the police and army units there.” The success in Anbar has led sheiks in at least two other Sunni-dominated provinces, Nineveh and Salahaddin, to ask for similar alliances against the foreign fighters. And, as TIME’s Bobby Ghosh has reported, an influential leader of the Sunni insurgency, Harith al-Dari, has turned against al-Qaeda as well. It is possible that al-Qaeda is being rejected like a mismatched liver transplant by the body of the Iraqi insurgency.

The Taliban is petering out:

The Taliban’s much-vaunted spring offensive has stalled apparently due to lack of organisation after dozens of middle-ranking commanders were killed by British troops in the past year, according to military sources.

The death last week of the key Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah at the hands of American special forces has harmed the Taliban’s morale to the point that local commanders are having to tell their troops to “remain professional” despite the loss.

…and Democrats have retreated:

Democrats conceded yesterday that their demands to begin withdrawing from Iraq can’t be included in a war-spending bill because President Bush would veto it, and they prepared to give him the money largely on his terms.

Though the attacks have been vicious on all three fronts, the good guys appear to be winning.

1. Unfortunately, in two out of three of those, you’ll be eating your words.

   Comment by endorendil — 5:04 am
   

2. Wishful (and sick) thinking, endo.

   Comment by crushliberalism — 6:56 am
   

3. CrushedByLiberalism, facing up to reality is indeed sickening at times.

   Comment by endorendil — 2:57 pm
   

4. facing up to reality is indeed sickening at times.

   Let me know if you ever give that “facing reality” thingy a try, m’kay? Thanks a bunch.

   Comment by crushliberalism — 5:36 am
   

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