Washington Post: Al Qaeda "Crippled"

This astonishingly good news is coming from one of the war's consistent skeptics, the Washington Post:

The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq...

Among the indicators cited is a sharp drop in suicide bombings, the group's signature attack, from more than 60 in January to around 30 a month since July. Captures and interrogations of AQI leaders over the summer had what a senior military intelligence official called a "cascade effect," leading to other killings and captures. The flow of foreign fighters through Syria into Iraq has also diminished...

This doesn't mean, of course, that our principle terrorist foes are going to disappear, but it is an undeniable sign that victory in Iraq is in sight. Just think, only a few short months ago at the turn of the New Year, some were prematurely declaring "the war is lost". Thank goodness for a resolute president who never gave up hope, and our brave and brilliant troops who stared evil in the face and came forth triumphant!