Control of Diwaniyah Province in Iraqi Hands

Perhaps more important than the news coverage over the New Yorker poor-taste satirical cover art and Obama's Iraq speech (also, Curt's post here), is this news of more progress in Iraq:

...another province, Diwaniyah, was handed over to Iraqi government control.

This means that for the first time, a democratically-elected Iraqi government is in charge of a majority of the country (10 of 18 provinces). The largest province and former home of the Sunni insurgency, al Anbar, is on the cusp of being handed over as well.

Is Senator Obama paying any attention? Amy Proctor pointed out that Anbar Province was to be handed over to Provincial Iraqi control back in June:

The predominantly Sunni province of Anbar to the west of Baghdad, once almost a synonym for the insurgency but recently much more peaceful, was to have been handed over last month.

There is reported to be a dispute over to whom exactly the US military would hand over control.

But overall, the violence countrywide is now at its lowest level since 2003.

That, our correspondent says, is in large measure attributed to the US troop "surge", which began last year and is now coming to an end.

It's only a matter of time.

How many more "man-on-the-street" interviews do I have to endure, hearing someone, who bases his opinion on 2005-6 hammered-home negativity, "We need to end the war now and bring all our troops home."

I wonder how many of them still are stuck on the belief that Iraq is in a civil war?

Here's Michael Totten on Michael Yon optimism, and why it deserves credible weight:

Michael Yon infuriated a whole swath of his audience some years ago when he said Iraq was in a state of civil war. Only the most committed anti-war leftists wanted to hear it. Vice President Dick Cheney famously and foolishly said the U.S. was “turning the corner” around the same time. Cheney is a politican. Yon is a straight-shooter. So it means something when Yon writes the following:

The war continues to abate in Iraq. Violence is still present, but, of course, Iraq was a relatively violent place long before Coalition forces moved in. I would go so far as to say that barring any major and unexpected developments (like an Israeli air strike on Iran and the retaliations that would follow), a fair-minded person could say with reasonable certainty that the war has ended. A new and better nation is growing legs. What's left is messy politics that likely will be punctuated by low-level violence and the occasional spectacular attack. Yet, the will of the Iraqi people has changed, and the Iraqi military has dramatically improved, so those spectacular attacks are diminishing along with the regular violence. Now it's time to rebuild the country, and create a pluralistic, stable and peaceful Iraq. That will be long, hard work. But by my estimation, the Iraq War is over.

The way I see it, the Iraq War ended when President Bush declared major combat operations had ended. What we became engaged in next was a different phase. Another chapter. What appears to be the case, is that the insurgency has lost its momentum. It may take years yet, for it to completely dematerialize. But I think our role there is coming to a close. Afghanistan is resurfacing as a problem. Who knows what is in store for Iraq's future? The future is ultimately unknowable, and anything can change on a dinar.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are battles in the long war, just as Vietnam and Korea were battles in a larger war.