Progress In Iraq

While all eyes are on New Orleans and Iraq has become a virtual non-issue in the presidential campaign, this good news from Anbar Province:

The American military handed over responsibility for the security of the western province of Anbar, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency and one of the most violent regions in Iraq, to the Iraqi government on Monday, a long-delayed milestone.

The transfer was made possible, Iraqi and American officials said, by an increase in Iraqi security forces and a reduction of violence largely attributed to the local forces known as Awakening Councils. It is the first handover of a province bordering Baghdad, where there has been intense sectarian conflict.

It's worth remembering that as recently as a few months ago Democratic presidential candidates and congressional leaders were decrying the Iraq war as "lost" and the surge as a failure.

In November 2007, Obama said the surge has not worked, and had potentially worsened the situation in Iraq.

See here for a timeline of Obama remarks about the "surge."