A Sober Assessment From Iraq

Senior Pentagon officials are backing off last year's optimistic positions and are stating that victory in Iraq may be months or years away ... or as one senior official told WashTimes when asked if we're winning, "Good question. It's open to discussion."

In light of these assessments, the Bush administration changed message on Iraq this summer, saying we need Iraqi support to win. The Left promptly jumped on that, accusing the White House of (GASP!) changing message! At the same time, they tried to keep their "Bush as Pollyanna" theme alive. They can't have it both ways, but they appear to be the last to understand that.

Rowan Scarborough's WashTimes piece does have good news in it, too, though:

Yet inside the Pentagon, and among field commanders, there is a firm belief that Zarqawi is growing desperate.

He is increasing attacks on Shi'ite markets, mosques and neighborhoods to try to incite a civil war between Shi'ite Muslims and dethroned Sunnis, who ran Iraq under Saddam's rule. But in the process, Zarqawi is alienating the very Shi'ites who, like the terror master, want American troops out now.

"You don't see Zarqawi attacking Americans," said a special-operations officer who has debriefed commandos returning from Iraq. "He is so desperate and twisted he's attacking Shi'ites."

A second Pentagon official said intelligence reports show that militant Shi'ites increasingly see Zarqawi as an enemy, not an ally.

"Shi'ites are rapidly concluding that al Qaeda is serving no purpose," the official said. "I read the intelligence. Shi'ites are saying, 'If you want the Americans out, get rid of al Qaeda.' It seems to be turning against [Zarqawi]."