The battle of Tal Afar

This New York Post cvolumn about the battle for Tal Afar is well worth reading. It gives some specifics on the battle, and how it was a great success (of course no victory is so great that some won't percieve it as a defeat.) Read the whole thing. The conclusion is worth remembering, although I have stated much the same thing many times before:

We must stop being impatient with the Iraqis and insisting that their every effort is doomed. Despite great difficulties, the Iraqis continue to move their country forward. Not one of the 'expert' claims that Iraq would fail has yet come true. So what's happening in Iraq while recovery efforts from Katrina also defy the doomsayers? A combined U.S.-Iraqi force cleaned out the terrorist base at Tal Afar with remarkably low losses. Sunni-Arab 'rejectionists' are preparing to join other Iraqis at the polls. International terrorists have become hated in Iraq. The number of tip-offs we receive has soared. And the country just plain refuses to fall apart.

(via Vodkapundit)