Don't look now, but guess who realized the surge is working?

[Tigermike 3,055]

Speaker Pelosi encounters reality and notices it

The prime minister returned to Baghdad from Mosul — where he has been overseeing the crackdown — to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who made a surprise visit to Iraq on Saturday.

Pelosi, a top Democratic critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, expressed confidence that expected provincial elections will promote national reconciliation.

She welcomed Iraq's progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation, and a bill paving the way for the provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials.

"We're assured the elections will happen here, they will be transparent, they will be inclusive and they will take Iraq closer to the reconciliation we all want it to have," said Pelosi. She also met with Iraq's parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq.

Pelosi, who also traveled to Iraq in January 2007 shortly after the Democrats assumed congressional control, has been a sharp critic of the Bush administration's conduct of the war and has pressed for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country this year.

She also has called for the Iraqi government to contribute more money to the reconstruction of the country.

President Bush's Iraq war funding request failed in the House on Thursday as anti-war Democrats and Republicans unhappy about added domestic funding formed an unlikely coalition to kill, for now, $163 billion to support U.S. troops overseas.

In violence Saturday, a female suicide bomber blew herself up near an office for a U.S.-allied Sunni group, then a suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi police patrol heading to the scene in the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad.

Police said at least 15 people were wounded in the attacks, including two children.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080517/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Let’s see. Iraqi Army taking control of national security — check.

Maliki building support from Sunnis and Kurds — check.

Congressional benchmarks for provincial elections, de-Baathification reform, oil revenue distribution, and general national reconciliation being met — check.

And Nancy Pelosi acknowledging all of these signs of the surge’s success … checkmate.

Perhaps this is the prelude to Pelosi adopting Senator George Aiken's prescription for Vietnam, "declare victory and leave." But acknowledging this much progress is dangerous for those who advocate our withdrawal since (a) the public may be less enthusiastic about pulling out entirely if it thinks we're succeding and ( in the event of serious deterioration post-withdrawal, it will be clear that we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/05/020541.php