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War In Iraq: It's quite likely that, as you read this, U.S. troops under the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus are winning the war against terrorism in Iraq. And no, it isn't just war-crazed neocons who think so. The possibility that the U.S. is winning this war — and not losing, as Democrats would have it — was raised in the pages of no less than the New York Times just this week.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE RUSTAMIYAH — Iraqi Soldiers and police officers creep in file along the dusty path, ignoring or pretending to ignore the escalating heat. Their boots hitting the dusty trail are the only sound, the lonely road the only scenery. Suddenly, one of them notices a large white delivery truck parked off the road amongst some trees. While the rest pull security, he checks the deliveryman and his truck for any weapons or explosives. Everything is okay, so the patrol sets off again. Throughout the day there are other challenges, such as angry mobs and suspicious boxes. It’s all...

New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner John Burns on Iraq, Iran and how the surge is working. HH: Pleased to welcome back to the Hugh Hewitt Show John Burns of the New York Times. Mr. Burns, welcome, it’s been about six months since we spoke, and I gather you’re in Baghdad today? JB: I am indeed. HH: How long have you been back in Baghdad? JB: About three months. We take long rotations here, and then we reward ourselves with nice long breaks back home in the United States, or in my case, in the United Kingdom. HH: Well, there...

VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place. Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the...

U.S. Toll in Iraq At 8-Month Low BAGHDAD - According to military sources the American death toll in Iraq is at its lowest point in over 8 months. The outcry from Democrats was immediate and strong: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) said, "This decline of casualties shouldn't give anyone the idea we're not losing, and bad." Harry Reid (D-Nev) said, "Who cares how many soldiers live or die, the war's lost, it doesn't make any difference." How right you are, Senator. Positive Report On Iraq War Could Split Dems WASHINGTON DC - House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.)...

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2007 – The top U.S. commander in Iraq today acknowledged high expectations for a September assessment of the situation in Iraq and said he would work to keep politics out of the process. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, spoke to Diane Sawyer on ABC’s “Good Morning America” program from his headquarters in Baghdad. He said that every time he gets a question about the assessment, “I feel another rock going into the rucksack, which is reasonably heavy at this point.” Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker will offer a...

VIEWED from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration’s critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place. Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the...

WASHINGTON: US forces have made significant progress in weakening Al Qaeda in Iraq, but it is not yet clear whether that will have a lasting impact on the broader sectarian conflict there, US analysts say. In what may be the most far reaching development, Sunni tribal leaders and some insurgent groups have sided with US forces as they pressed a series of offensives against the Iraq arm of Al Qaeda, known as AQI. “The Al Qaeda piece is certainly the main bit of good news on the military front, and I think it’s extraordinarily good news,” said Michael O’Hanlon, an...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used the Democrats' weekly radio address Saturday to tout her party's passage of legislation to implement major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The House passed the bill Friday on a 371-40 vote, a day after the Senate passed it 85-8. The White House said the president would sign it. The legislation would shift money to high-risk states and cities, expand screening of air and sea cargo and put money into a new program to ensure that security officials at every level can communicate with each other. Its passage ranks among the top accomplishments of the 6-month-old...

"God looks after children, drunkards and the United States of America." — Otto von BismarckIt's now quite clear how the results of the surge will be dealt with by domestic opponents of the Iraq War: They're going to be ignored. They're being ignored now. Virtually no media source or Democratic politician is willing to admit that the situation on the ground has changed dramatically over the past three months. Coalition efforts have undergone a remarkable reversal of fortune, a near-textbook example as to how an effective strategy can overcome what appear to be overwhelming drawbacks. Anbar is close to being...

Republican Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas: Mr. Speaker, traveling to Iraq this past weekend to see firsthand how the surge is working, I really expected the worst. Instead I am very encouraged. Communities all across Iraq are turning against al Qaeda and working with Iraqi and coalition forces to take back their cities. Half of Baghdad is no longer safe for insurgents. Al Qaeda is not down and out but clearly back on its heels rejected by the very communities and religious leaders its claims to fight for. Make no mistake, there are still serious challenges, including high profile bombings,...

In the American media, Iraq's steady progress toward security is frequently overshadowed by news of the latest act of mass terrorism. Yet for those of us who actually live here, progress is visible to all but the most irreconcilable skeptics. Just this week, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, the United Nations' special representative for Iraq, announced at a news conference in Baghdad that Iraq had achieved, or at least started to achieve, 75 percent of the benchmarks it set for itself in the U.N.-led International Compact with Iraq. The military force increase by the United States called "the surge" is only one...

Military Goes High-Tech To Spread 'Good News' In IraqBy WAYNE WOOLLEY   Sgt. Russell Klika, left, helps Pfc. David Choi edit a photo assignment shot at Fort Dix in Wrightstown, N.J. The Pentagon has been stepping up efforts to get more positive coverage of the war in Iraq. (Photo by Frank H. Conlon)     [Fort Dix, NJ] -- Under a pounding sun, the two sweaty soldiers slowly rotated the top of a $160,000 satellite dish.Sgt. Michelle Halpin turned a small crank as Spc. Brooks Taylor peered into a tiny computer screen, searching for the elusive electronic signal.After 15 minutes,...

It's now quite clear how the results of the surge will be dealt with by domestic opponents of the Iraq war. They're going to be ignored. They're being ignored now. Virtually no media source or Democratic politician (and not a few Republicans, led by Richard "I can always backtrack" Lugar) is willing to admit that the situation on the ground has changed dramatically over the past three months. Coalition efforts have undergone a remarkable reversal of fortune, a near-textbook example as to how an effective strategy can overcome what appear to be overwhelming drawbacks. Anbar is close to being secured,...

The U.S. military and the Iraqi government continue to court the tribes in the provinces surrounding Baghdad. One day after the tribes in the city of Taji in Salahadin province pledged to fight al Qaeda in Iraq and the Mahdi Army, a tribal meeting was held in the city of Khalis in Diyala province. Seventy-five tribal leaders gathered and vowed to fight al Qaeda in Iraq, its Islamic State front, and other insurgent groups. “Here, right now, I am denouncing the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Qaeda,” said one sheik in attendance.

Charles Lingerfelt and Don English established a New "Kurdish American School" in Kurdistan- Northern Iraq- in the Fall of 2006. They are teaching English as "a second language" to young college-level and young adult Kurdish Students. Also, they're teaching Government, Democracy and Democratic principles. They are returning on September 1, 2007, for the Fall Quarter 2007. For further Info: contact Charles at: Charles_Lingerfelt@hotmail.com

Operation Phantom Thunder and the Baghdad Security Plan continue to place pressure on al Qaeda in Iraq, allied Sunni insurgent groups, the Mahdi Army and the Iranian-backed Special Group. In Baghdad, junior al Qaeda in Iraq operatives are reportedly cooperating with Coalition forces and a series of car bombs hit a Shia area of the capital. In the Belts, U.S. and Iraqi forces maintain aggressive operations against al Qaeda and insurgent cells as both Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in and around Taji have banded together to fight the Mahdi Army and al Qaeda. Meanwhile, the U.S. captured two more...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2007 – The Marine Corps’ top officer said yesterday he is “heartily encouraged” by the progress Iraqi and coalition forces are making in Iraq’s Anbar province. “We have seen large numbers of Sunni tribesmen, at the encouragement of their sheikhs and their imams, come forward to join the Iraqi security forces,” Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway told an audience at the National Press Club here. “We see that as a very positive thing.” The general said the past six months have seen a 60 percent decline in attacks, a 400 percent increase in enemy weapons...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2007 – Success on the ground in Iraq is being overshadowed by spectacular attacks designed to draw attention from good things that are happening there, a U. S. Central Command officer told online journalists and bloggers in a July 19 conference call. “What we see is this violent and desperate enemy, as it will do these singular and very spectacular acts of violence in order to derail or to take the focus off of the good things that are happening,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert H. Holmes, deputy director of operations for U.S. Central Command, said. Holmes...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, July 19 — Saying he still believes that the United States is safer than it was on Sept. 11, Rudolph W. Giuliani on Thursday nevertheless criticized the way the Bush Administration pursued Al Qaeda and suggested that the United States failed to put enough pressure on Pakistan to pursue terrorists. In two interviews while campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Giuliani discussed the National Intelligence Estimate released Tuesday by the White House, which found that a hands-off approach by Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, toward Pakistan’s tribal areas had set the stage for Al Qaeda’s resurgence. “Did we not...