What if America Won a War and Nobody Noticed?

What if America won a war and nobody noticed - or cared?

What is the definition of victory in Iraq? During the rise of the insurgency and later with the escalation of sectarian violence, the number of bombs exploded and murders committed per day were the definition of loss. Most everyone was pointing at the disaster in Iraq, at the failure of our military, at the 'quagmire' we had found ourselves in just a year ago.

If you compare 2007 to 2008 you will discover a stunning change of events. Violent acts committed across Iraq and in Baghdad are down 93% from one year ago. Sectarian violence is down 98% from one year ago. Only 7% of the murders and shootings that happened a year ago happened this year. Only 2% of the violence based on race or religion was committed this year compared to last year.

Can any nation in the world make this claim? If the performance of the U.S. military, state department, and Government of Iraq is compared on any standard, it is remarkable. Nobody gets these kinds of results. Can you imagine a 93% increase in student performance at a school, and to make the comparison correct, in the worst school in the nation? How about a 98% in violence in our cities?

And this was accomplished in a place that everyone had given up as lost.

Baghdad is a city of 7.5 million people. The suburb of Sadr City has 2.5 million people. These are ancient areas with tensions dating back thousands of years yet there is a real effort to create peace in their neighborhoods.

The government of Iraq last year produced four times as much legislation as the United States Congress. Much of this was directed at social programs, civil projects and efforts to empower those who for generations had no voice. There is genuine progress being made over here.

But the question persists, what is enough? When will America look across the seas to a land most cannot comprehend, and realize what has happened here.

Perhaps the war has become too political.

I really have to wonder if we have won the war, but nobody noticed.