On another positive note, in December, the total number of American troops killed in Iraq was 0. This following 2 in November and 2 in October. So a total of 4 KIA's in the last quarter of 2009.

Clearly the war is not won, as there are a lot of Iraqis still dying, but the situation is vastly improved. Political differences could change everything as there are real divisions between Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. But I'll definitely acknowledge that the US can declare victory here and move on. We've handed the Iraqis as stable a situation as we can and the rest is up to them.

I would hesitate to give all of the credit for this to GWB. It took him four years to order the surge, and this only after losing big in the 2006 midterm election. Without that loss it is likely he would have kept Rumsfeld on and the surge would have never happened. Even John McCain drilled him a new one for staying with a failed strategy for YEARS.