And not realizing it? An interesting dispatch from Anbar province.

No one tell Harry Reid. Given his heavy investment in defeat, his disappointment would be palpable.

We've been winning the war since 2003. Terrorist insurgencies are not so uncommon that they are without precedent. And the precedents indicate that such struggles are almost always winnable, but they typically take up to 10 years to win. Even the most cursory look at the statistics in this war (losses on either side, trends, etc.) would make it abundantly obvious that we are winning and that all we have to do is stick it out for the duration to achieve victory.

I'm with Robin.

Compare current whole military fatality rate with that during President Clinton's era. We did have a numerically substantially larger military then, true, but even being in the same flipping ballpark is mind blowing.

We are losing fewer people in combat operations than we did to training accidents in the mid 1980's.

I also like how nowadays the target of choice for terrorists seems to be their own natural allies, folks of similar creed and situation. Boy is that brilliant, huh?

Scene: Jesse James, the Gang, and all their wimminfolk are holed up in the desert cliff hideout, surrounded by the posse.

"Come out with yer hands up!" yells Sheriff Cogburn, "We got ya surrounded!"

"Fock you, copper!" Jesse yells back. "You try comin' in here, you'll regret it. I'll kill every one of the Gang if you try, including all the wimmin. Imagine how guilty you'll feel then!"

"No! You wouldn't!" gasps Cogburn. "For pity's sake, man...!"

"Ha!" crows Jesse, "Just watch me! In fact, I'm going to start shooting one of the Gang every 10 minutes until you leave! BANG. There's the first one! You ready to give up yet, sheriff?"

Cogburn eyes the bandito body slowly tumbling down the cliff face. "Er...let me think this one over a bit, Jess..."