When they say the surge is working, we should say "the Anbar Awakening is working."

I thought that took place before the surge. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

which has not really happened.

al Sadr's ceasefire is working. For the time being.

and oh yeah... where's Osama?

There is NEVER one single factor that leads to a lessening
of violence in any conflict -- it's probably a combination
of several factors. What I cannot stand about this debate
is the same simple-mindedness that leads Repukes to say
"Ronald Reagan WON the Cold War." No, Ronald Reagan's stand
on missile defense and "negotiating from a position of
strength" CONTRIBUTED to the end of the Cold War. To say
that it was the ONLY FACTOR is to ignore the contributions
of glasnost (zdrasvuitye, Mikhail Gorbachev!) and resurgent
Catholicism in the Soviet satellites (especially Poland;
thank you, John Paul II!).

Yes, the "surge has worked" but it is not the only reason
violence is down. And despite the "surge working," are we
any closer to drawing our troops down? I'd say that we need
the Iraqis to move to the NEXT PHASE, which is political
reconciliation, before we schedule any "victory" parades.