Towards the Endgame in Iraq

Not from shameful retreat and abject surrender will US troops now leave, but with a victorious Mission Accomplished! This story via the NY Sun:

And so the Battle of Iraq is to be brought to an end, in T.S. Eliot's phrase, "not with a bang but a whimper."

With the eyes of the world focused on the Middle East peace talks in Annapolis, Md., President Bush's war tsar, Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, quietly announced that the American and Iraqi governments will start talks early next year to bring about an end to the allied occupation by the close of Mr. Bush's presidency.

The negotiations will bring to a formal conclusion the U.N. Chapter 7 Security Council involvement in the occupation and administration of Iraq, and are expected to reduce the number of American troops to about 50,000 troops permanently stationed there but largely confined to barracks, from the current 164,000 forces on active duty.

President Bush's strategy to liberate Iraq and bring democracy to the long-suffering Middle East, will doubtless be the most astounding feat in American arms since World War 2, and rank him among the great liberators in history. Just think, that a few months ago some less fore-sighted were declaring the "war is lost" and planning to concede defeat to the terrorists perpetrators of 9/11.

H/t to Blogs for Victory!