After countless mistakes and still impeded by the most restrictive rules of engagement ever, coalition forces in Iraq seem to have turned the corner. The troop surge (which nearly doubled the number of combat troops in the field) and Petraeus plan are beginning to work. Shia tribal leaders are turning away from al Sadr, Sunni tribal leaders are fighting al Qaeda, and the Iraqi security forces are more and more in control and trusted.

The situation in Anbar province has improved greatly in the past couple of months, and al Qaeda is on the run in Diyalah, with villagers calling on the Iraqi Army for help in battling the barbarians. They're treating us as liberators in and around Baquba — and if you've been reading Michael Yon's dispatches, you know why.

Ayman al Zawahiri, al Qaeda's number two man and chief strategist, in a video released on July 4 (Belmont Club has a detailed summary; Power Line has the video), made it clear that they're in trouble in Iraq, are losing the support they had among the Sunni population, and are desperate for reinforcements. 

Zawahiri's plea for help in preventing a U.S. victory in Iraq was immediately answered — by the mainstream media and Democrats. With al Qaeda weakening every day and coalition forces making progress in the most embattled regions of Iraq, the Americans who are completely invested in U.S. defeat and humiliation have themselves become desperate. We can't wait until next spring, they cry, or even for Gen. Petraeus' interim report this fall, we have to surrender and withdraw right now! The New York Times demanded that we leave "without any more delay than the Pentagon needs to organize an orderly exit," even while acknowledging that the result would be more bloodshed and chaos, possibly genocide, and the emergence of a new terrorist stronghold. 

The Democrat cheerleading for defeat is disgusting, but expected. What's new and truly contemptible is the sight of Senate Republicans sticking their finger in the wind and running for cover. LTC Ralph Peters outlined the sorry situation we're in (emphasis added):

EVEN as our troops make serious progress against al-Qaeda-in-Iraq and other extremists, Congress – including Republican members – is sending the terrorists a message: "Don't lose heart, we'll save you!"
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Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq is suffering a humiliating defeat, as fellow Sunni Muslims turn against the fanatics and help them find the martyrdom they advertise. Yet for purely political reasons – next year's elections – cowards on Capitol Hill are spurning the courage of our troops on the ground.

The frantic political gamesmanship in Congress would nauseate a ghoul. Pols desperate for any cover and concealment they can get have dragged the Iraq Study Group plan from the grave.

Masterminded by former Secretary of State Jim "Have Your Hugged Your Saudi Prince Today?" Baker, the report is a blueprint for a return to yesteryear's dictator-smooching policy (which helped create al Qaeda – thanks, Jimbo!).

That Baker report reminds me of cheap horror films where the zombies just keep coming back – except that zombies retain a measure of integrity.

But if Republicans are rushing to desert our troops and spit on the graves of heroes, the Democratic Party at least has been consistent – they've supported our enemies from the start, undercutting our troops and refusing to explain in detail what happens if we flee Iraq.

So I'll tell you what happens: massacres. And while I have nothing against Shia militiamen and Sunni insurgents killing each other 24/7, the overwhelming number of victims will be innocent women, children and the elderly.
…

… As for those on the left who sanctimoniously set out rows of shabby combat boots to "teach" the rest of us the cost of war, I fully expect them to put out displays of women's slippers and children's shoes to show the world how many innocents died when they "brought our troops home now." …

I hate the long-mismanaged mess in Iraq. I wish there were a sensible, decent way to get out that wouldn't undercut our security and produce massive innocent casualties. But there isn't. Not now. And, like it or not, we have a moral responsibility as well as practical interests in refusing to surrender to the butchers in Iraq.

Of course, many Americans will pay scant attention to the bloody consequences in Iraq. The advocates of surrender will surely avert their eyes from the resulting mass graves and deny any responsibility, just as their counterparts from an earlier generation did regarding the killing fields of Cambodia and the mass graves, prison camps, and boat people of Vietnam. 

Besides, the escalation of attacks on the West by a reinvigorated al Qaeda may distract us. As Armed Liberal noted, if we abandon Iraq to the Islamofascists: 

We will have helped train a new generation of jihadis to believe that if they kill several thousand troops, we will surrender. The last time we taught them this lesson was in Somalia, which in Bin Laden's words

But your most disgraceful case was in Somalia; where- after vigorous propaganda about the power of the USA and its post cold war leadership of the new world order- you moved tens of thousands of international force, including twenty eight thousands American solders into Somalia. However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and one American Pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu you left the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead with you. Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge , but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut , Aden and Mogadishu.

I can't wait to see what he says – and more importantly, does – in response to our pullout from Iraq.