turn of the tide?

Well, it stands to reason that no one would claim we can see the 'light at the end of the tunnel'! The metaphor of choice is The Tide is Turning in Iraq. That's the title of an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today. Alas, it's only available to subscribers, but the short version is this: 'Significant challenges remain in establishing security, building up Iraqi forces capable of maintaining it and helping the Iraqi government achieve reconciliation and unity. But few expected the progress so far. The tide in Iraq is clearly turning....'

(The author is Kimberly Kagan, who has a variety of interests: affilate of Harvard's Institute of Strategic Studies, president of the Institute for the Study of War, and wife of Frederick Kagan who has been identified as a principal author of the surge strategy.)

I thought that was a nice bit of theater that Bush pulled off in Anbar province over the weekend.