(Mostly) Good News from Iraq

This LA Times article is worth a read. Here's a bit:

They say the decision to send 28,500 more troops to Iraq has made a difference by allowing them to send soldiers to live on the fault lines between Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, and to conduct sweeping offensives in provinces east and south of the capital against strongholds of Shiite Muslim militias and Sunni militants linked to foreign insurgents.

But others say that the picture is more complicated than that because those seeking to cleanse their neighborhoods of rival religious sects have largely succeeded. The civilian death toll plummeted nationwide in the last two months; the toll was 2,076 in January but 884 in September and 758 in October, according to the Iraqi Health Ministry.

It remains to be seen if local political progress will translate in progress on the national level. With losses among our troops and Iraqi civilians dropping, maybe optimism is justified.

Some Advice for Republicans

This perspective comes courtesy of Tony Blankley. I wonder if the GOP will have the wisdom to heed his warning.

The Politico

Do you read Politico.com? If not, here's something of an introduction. They have an article on voter anger today. The claim is that angry voters are fed up with Washington and that is bad news for Democrats. I suspect that things are somewhat more complicated than that. Plenty of voters are upset that Dems have not come through on the promises about ending the Iraq War. Do you really think that any of them are suddenly going to vote for Republicans because of it? I think that is a small cadre of voters who may vacillate between the two parties, but most of them will stick with the Dems in 2008.