Some Good Signs From Iraq

Is the insurgency considering suspending major operations in Iraq? Some news suggests that the Iraqi elections have had an immense effect on the willingness of former Saddamites to fight on.

The regular newspapers have in their own way chronicled the insurgency's decline. The new European friendliness towards the Bush administration; Kofi Annan's pitiful attempt to claim credit for the Iraqi elections; America's recent agressiveness towards Syria; Senator Clinton's newfound optimism; the Ba'athist recent despair -- each chronicles after its fashion the story of defeat -- though the reader is left to deduce who is defeated.

This says nothing about the Islamic fanatics, but rational nationalists (of the old regime) may be ready to sue for peace. But the efforts of our own and the Iraqi elections may be bearing welcome fruits.