Liberal Talk Radio

Yesterday I noted the failure of some big reconstruction projects in Iraq, as reported by an article in the New York Times. I woke up this morning to find my Sunday copy of the physical paper, in which that article shares A1-above-the-fold billing with this one:

Violence has fallen swiftly throughout Ramadi and its sprawling rural environs, residents and American and Iraqi officials said. Last summer, the American military recorded as many as 25 violent acts a day in the Ramadi region, ranging from shootings and kidnappings to roadside bombs and suicide attacks. In the past several weeks, the average has dropped to four acts of violence a day, American military officials said.

On a recent morning, American and Iraqi troops, accompanied by several police officers, went on a foot patrol through a market in the Malaab neighborhood of Ramadi. Only a couple of months ago, American and Iraqi forces would enter the area only in armored vehicles. People stopped and stared. The sight of police and military forces in the area, particularly on foot, was still novel.

The article also notes that “the progress has inspired an optimism in the American command that, among some officials, borders on giddiness.” It’s worth noting.

But keep in mind, we’ve seen this before. There was a time when Fallujah was coming back to live, after an intensive American effort, and before that there was Tal Afar. And yet, over time, both have fallen again to the insurgents.

Update: Andrew Sullivan puts this in the proper context: “What Anbar shows is that relative peace and stability will come only when Iraqis themselves, for reasons of their own, defend their own country from al Qaeda’s poison.”