More on Winning Iraq and Winning in '08

Yesterday's WSJ had a provocative opinion piece by one Bartle Bull, foreign editor of Prospect magazine, once again analyzing the evidence to argue that the surge is prevailing nicely, thank you very much. He adds to the chorus of voices observing that the victory is coming because Iraqis are aligning with American forces, something that some Democrats have fatuously exclaimed has nothing to do with the surge.

We urge the reading of the entire piece but can't resist this delicious pull quote (emphasis inserted):

So--with the Sunni insurgency defeated, the Shiite nationalists inside the government, breakup and true civil war avoided, Iran a pest at worst, regional sectarian disruption a fantasy and a White House that will not be forced into declarations of defeat by three IEDs a day--the main questions of Iraqi politics have been resolved. Despite the huge prices paid for these victories, the resolutions have mostly been for the best.

Patience has been the only weapon missing in America's arsenal. But maybe, just maybe, we can eke out enough of it to see this through to a reasonably happy ending.

Meanwhile, Democrats, undeterred by the war's success, continue to plot to end it. The latest is a ploy to authorize funding only through February, at which point they hope for enough bad news to be able to do what Frank Church did to Vietnam, guarantee its fall by cutting off funding. But these days it appears possible that by February funding might be reduced because things are going so very well.

So here's an interesting political dilemma for Democrats, and a potentially intractable problem for Republicans. Do Democrats remain in defeat mode to satisfy their Angry Left pacifist base through the primaries? If so, what do they do if victory is looking like a foregone conclusion by spring? Can they count on the electorate being ready to move on from a Republican-led military victory to a Democratic administration? It took a couple of years for voters to decide to punish G. H. W. Bush for winning in the Middle East. Could it take only a few months now?

And if voters decide they are just tired of Republicans whether they win in Iraq or not, is there anything Republicans can do to prevent their electoral defeat?

Americans might just manage the requisite patience for a preliminary victory. But will they manage to have long enough memories to sustain a victory?