An Editorial on Iraq From Bing West

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Rickey Spencer passes out soccer balls to children in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 15, 2008. Spencer is assigned to the 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joan E. Kretschmer, U.S. Navy. (Released)

Decency, Toughness ... and No Shortcuts -- The Atlantic

The Iraq war has faded as an item of interest to the national press because the violence has plummeted, while a consensus has formed that the American military learned from experience and now knows what it’s doing. In 2006, we were losing the war; today, the military trajectory is encouraging, and U.S. forces are slowly withdrawing. During my 15th trip to Iraq in August, for the first time I didn’t hear a shot fired. In several cities, I walked into markets with only a few American soldiers, and was immediately surrounded by Iraqis eager to talk about the economy, security, politics, whatever.

Normality? Nowhere close. Concrete barriers (designed to restrict the flesh-ripping radius of suicide bombers) were still in place, enclosing neighborhoods in Baghdad and a dozen other cities. Car bombings and criminal kidnappings persisted, as did battles against disparate al-Qaeda cells and Shiite insurgent gangs incited by Iran. Still, Iraq was not engulfed in civil war. The Sunni resistance had largely collapsed.

A sure sign that the war in Iraq has turned around has been the rush to take credit. Victory has a thousand fathers. This would seem a harmless parlor game, were Afghanistan not looming. Military success in Iraq is sure to lead to lessons to be applied in Afghanistan. Let’s make sure we pick the right lessons.

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