Tigerhawk analyzes a London Times survey:
Iraqis, however, essentially believe the possibilities for the Petraeus plan — we provide temporary security with the objective of creating the space necessary for the government and army of Iraq to stand without assistance, after which we substantially withdraw.
It is only 5000 people, but the mood of optimism matches that of Iraq the Model, who argues that One thing al-Qaeda excels at: making new enemies and Is Iran’s Honeymoon in Iraq Over?
Iraq remains a gamble, but the stakes for the Iraqis and for their neighbors have not lessened in the last four years. This is something the Gathering of Eagles knows. And today, the news from many places is good. We’ll know in another six months, another year, another decade if our hands are getting better, our luck beginning to hold.
And an aside: I suspect it was mainly my generation who stood across from each other on the mall today. I hope that my children’s will not be riven by this war as ours was by the one still in so many minds almost forty years later. (This may be a cliche, but the hope is no less sincere for that.)