Good news from Mesopotamia

I can't believe my eyes!

Today's New York Times has an op ed about Iraq entitled, "A War We Just Might Win." The coauthors, from the liberal-minded Brookings Institution, have recently returned from 8 days of meetings in Iraq with American and Iraqi civilian and military personnel.

This is what they have to say about the initial impact of "the surge" masterminded by Gen. David Petraeus:

Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration’s miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily “victory” but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.

And this:

Everywhere, Army and Marine units were focused on securing the Iraqi population, working with Iraqi security units, creating new political and economic arrangements at the local level and providing basic services — electricity, fuel, clean water and sanitation — to the people. Yet in each place, operations had been appropriately tailored to the specific needs of the community. As a result, civilian fatality rates are down roughly a third since the surge began — though they remain very high, underscoring how much more still needs to be done.

Thank you, New York Times, for having the guts to print that. Now if only all those other Americans with a festering hatred for George Bush would wake up and see what our magnificent military is beginning to accomplish "over there." If we bring stability to Iraq, the jihadists are doomed to failure and our children just might live in a safer world. Our soldiers are certainly up to and meeting the challenge. The question is, are we?

Peggy Noonan is reading my mind

I was thinking about summer vacations with my family when I was a kid the other day, and then this morning I read this from Peggy Noonan:

So we are agreed. We are living in the second great Gilded Age, a time of startling personal wealth. In the West, the mansion after mansion with broad and rolling grounds; in the East, the apartments with foyers in which bowling teams could play. Or, on another level, the week's vacation in Disneyland or Dublin with the entire family--this in a nation in which, well within human memory, people with a week off stayed home and fixed things in the garage, or drove to the beach for a day and sat on a blanket from one of the kid's beds and thought: This is the life.

You can read the whole thing here.

"I'm into Nuggets y'all..."

Now this is what I call ingenious reality marketing. I don't even like rap, but boy did I get a laugh out of this: Two young nerds riffing on their love for fast food. Who can't relate to this kind of fun, teen-aged nonsense? Reminded me of many goofy times, many moons ago.