War is a process not a flip of a switch. You can't hide your failure admit the signs of success I listed a few days ago by demanding an immediate halt to the war. Those signs of success took far too long to appear because of failed strategy early on. A poor strategy on exit can be just as costly. You may still wish for failure so you can return to stances that look idiotic at this point in time (ie Al-quida were feedom fighters), but most Americans don't. Again no one but you as a strawman is claiming the war is already won, not even Obama. His change in timetable is an admission that we are winning and that he doesn't want to drop the ball.

Democrats will be loath to admit the war is won when it was over because it might be seen as vindication for Bush and many act more concerned about their party than their country. Republicans are terrified of saying it is won and repeating Bush's mistakes or compounding them by leaving before long term victory is assured. We are winning the war currently for all the reasons I gave earlier and will have won it if those conditions remain after we leave. It will be a hollow victory however if even 10 years down the road democracy in Iraq reverts to a strong man dictatorship. Democrats can legitimately claim it is a somewhat hollow victory even with a stable Iraqi democracy based on the precedents set, but failure to call a military victory a military one will show blatant partisanship.