Why We're Winning

Screw the French and Germans. We have the most important allies on our side - the Iraqis.

One reason for this progress is that we're finally being helped by a substantial number of Iraqi troops. The force that took Samarra included 3,000 Americans and 2,000 Iraqis, with the latter providing local knowledge and helping secure sensitive sites like mosques.
More recently around Mahmudiya, U.S. forces rounded up a number of suspects, but it was only the arrival Monday of Colonel Mohamed Essa Baher of the Iraqi National Guard that allowed them to identify one captive as a top Zarqawi paymaster. Colonel Baher was ambushed and almost killed on Tuesday--one of his sons has already been killed--but he vows to pursue the terrorists "to the last breath."