Analysis: U.S. Now Winning Iraq War That Once Seemed Lost -- Also, A History For Iraqis To Write

The Future Of Iraq .... It's Children

U.S. Now Winning Iraq War That Once Seemed Lost -- Houston Chronicle

BAGHDAD — The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost.

Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years. But the Iraqi government and the U.S. now are able to shift focus from mainly combat to mainly building the fragile beginnings of peace — a transition that many found almost unthinkable as recently as one year ago.

Despite the occasional bursts of violence, Iraq has reached the point where the insurgents, who once controlled whole cities, no longer have the clout to threaten the viability of the central government.

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A History For Iraqis To Write -- Washington Post

With characteristic self-absorption, Americans are looking at Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's recent statements about a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops in terms of our 2008 presidential election. We should see this issue instead in terms of Iraqi history.

Modern Iraq was founded on an abhorrence of foreign military occupation. The national self-image is of resistance to British colonialism. That's why Maliki and most other Iraqi politicians have balked at signing the status-of-forces agreement sought by the Bush administration and why the Iraqi prime minister is enthusiastic about a timetable for the departure of most U.S. troops by the end of 2010.

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My Comment: Two well written columns by respected journalists in the field. Iraq has transformed itself from a brutal dictatorship, multiple wars, invasion and occupation, and civil war. It is now about to proceed what will be it most difficult phase .... how to win the peace.

The ball is in their court .... they have all the potential to be the most developed and prosperous country in the Middle East .... let us hope that they choose wisely.