Brain Fertilizer

And Iraq is winning.

Slowly, to be sure, but surely.

In both cases, the Iraqi forces fought off attacks independently, and their American sister units arrived after the Iraqi units repelled the attacks. These Iraqi units may not meet the New York Times definition of ‘operational’, but they certainly possess the characteristics of an effective fighting force.

...and:

The availability of “70,000, 80,000 [Iraqi troops] by the end of this year” to independently operate and maneuver does not bode well for the insurgent’s prospects for victory. This will also free up an enormous amount of American troops for combat operations against the insurgency as well as securing the restive Anbar province.

I've been telling everyone who asks that we'll be down to about half the current US troop levels by the end of January 2006. I've seen nothing to dissuade me from that assessment.