Won, or winning...

Re(1): 'Tal-Afar', The Belmont Club, TC Wretchard
Re(2): 'Battle at the Border', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(3): 'Battle At the Border III', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(4): 'Battle Along the Northern Ratline', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(5): 'Operation Restoring Rights in Tal-Afar', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(6): 'Qaim and the Big Picture', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(7): 'Tal Afar: Calm Before the Storm in Sarai', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(8): 'Balad of the Hellfire', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(9): 'The Battle for the Border IV', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(10): 'The "Islamic Republic of Qaim" Crock', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(11): 'The Anbar Campaign Intensifies', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(12): 'Border Shutdown West of Tal Afar', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio
Re(13): 'Border Wars V - Operation Cyclone in Rutbah, Tal Afar, and more', The Fourth Rail, Bill Roggio

In Tal-Afar, Wretchard illustrates the weakness of the Iraqi insurgency:

Terror is a Frankenstein monster which can destroy its creator unless it is carefully controlled. The myriad and decentralized killers, whose decentralization was accounted a military asset by some analysts -- turned their car bombs, mortars and knives on ordinary Sunnis, Shi'as and Kurds. While attacks on the Shi'a pilgrims, for example, may have brought the insurgency momentary recognition in the Western media, no one but a fool could believe it would buy them anything but enmity among its victims. Decentralization turned out to be another term for 'no command and control'. For terror to succeed it must succeed; against an immoveable object like the US Armed Forces it gradually became a public menace and another species of crime.

Al Qaeda is losing a war of attrition that it did not expect to be involved in. A war in which they lose 156 killed against 2 American fatalities - some terrorist training ground Iraq has become, eh. They have not found the weak and indecisive America they expected. Apparently, they were listening to those out of power, and out of influence – namely the Left and the Media. Their unwitting idiot allies, the Left, were too slow in the drive for failure. The beheadings and burnings and mass killings and taped rants have only tempered American steel. The euphoric joy of a personal jihad against America in Iraq is wiping out a generation of recruits bin Laden needs to effectively strike at the West - in the West. America is standing firm, and killing terrorists.

Wretchard also takes a look at the obvious - That the increasingly powerful nation of Iraq may not look kindly at neighboring states fermenting terror in the region:

It also has the advantage of putting the Syrians on notice that the new Iraqi government, which the Ba'athists are increasingly unlikely to recapture, is taking steps to maintain its territorial integrity. Given another year the new Iraqi government may come to regard the Syrian-supported infiltration as a cassus belli -- not necessarily, but the threat is there.

The references to Bill Roggio's editorials are important reads. Understand that the latest offensives are now using very large numbers of Iraqi military troops. In the case of the Tal Afar offensive we are talking about 6,000 Iraqi troops along with 4,000 American troops. These are crush and hold operations.

Thank God there is someone with strength and leadership in office now...

In this total war, there can only be total victory..