Is it possible we may be winning the peace?

If you've been reading the mainstream press or watching television network news, you might be tempted to believe (along with Dick Gephardt) that US troops in Iraq are facing a "looming quagmire... on our shoulders".   Leaving aside the practical question of whether one can ever have a quagmire on one's shoulders, there may be some early evidence that things in Iraq may actually be heading our way.

For example, read this encouraging piece from the WSJ's Paul Gigot regarding his recent visit to Iraq.   Gigot reports that the morale of US troops is far better than is being reported, and that the Iraqis' greatest fear is that US forces will leave Iraq too soon.

Or this article from today's WaPo by Thomas Hicks, reporting on the aggressive new tactics being used to counter guerilla attacks on US forces.   According to Hicks, senior US military commanders appear to be confident that that we have seen the worst of the attacks from the remaining Baathist diehards.

Only time will tell, but I believe that those who wringing their hands about the lack of progress being made in Iraq will eventually be proven to be as wrong about this as they have been about all other aspects of the war.