I'll Define Winning in Iraq Right Now...

Winning in Iraq is when US Soldiers no longer have to occupy the country. However, this is a cynical answer because the US isn't going to leave Iraq despite the demands of Nouri al-Maliki that Iraq wants a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops to be attached to a security agreement. Of course, the American People can't agree to such an artificial timetable for withdrawal.

After all as Super War proponent Der Max Boot recently offered up at Commentary Magazine:

In order to build on the success that General Petraeus and his soldiers have had, we need to maintain a long-term commitment in Iraq-for 100 years if need be, as John McCain has said.

The Surge has worked.
No it hasn't...
Yes it has!
No! It! Hasn't!
YES!
NO!

The Surge was nothing less than another shell game. The Surge was touted as a success even before it happened. As violence spiked and more Americans died in 2007 than any other year of the Occupation The Surge was working. As US service members deaths dropped (thankfully!) The Surge worked.

The fact is it doesn't matter.

In my first blog post a year ago I postulated the Occupation of Iraq is more akin to the US invasion and Occupation of the Philippine Islands than Vietnam.

In a hundred years no one's going to remember the hundreds of thousands killed and maimed. No one will remember the 3 Marines killed by a Suicide Bomber or the 30 or so Iraqi unpersons after The Surge worked and the Enemy in Anbar Province was neutralized. And we'll have Iraqis working as barbers and cooks and cleaners here in America!

But, for many of those who've served the Occupation of Iraq is forever.