AP says that since insurgents now longer control entire cities that the US is winning. But in the next breath they admit.

Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years

That’s not a win, that’s continued guerrilla warfare. But is what we’re seeing a lull?

This amounts to more than a lull in the violence. It reflects a fundamental shift in the outlook for the Sunni minority, which held power under Saddam Hussein. They launched the insurgency five years ago. They now are either sidelined or have switched sides to cooperate with the Americans in return for money and political support.

Well, bribery is a time-honored method except it guarantees neither loyalty nor victory.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told The Associated Press this past week there are early indications that senior leaders of al-Qaida may be considering shifting their main focus from Iraq to the war in Afghanistan.

Ah. So the war hasn’t really ended at all. The other side is just switching to another battlefield.

But if they want to say we’re winning, great. As the antiwar Senator Aiken (R-VT) once said about the Vietnam War, let’s just declare victory and bring the troops home now. Works for me.

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