Remember: there’s no such thing as progress in Iraq, on any front. If someone tells you Ramadi is much more secure today than six months ago, show them the numbers on the daily power supply. If they tell you U.S. casualties are down this month despite the obvious jihadist incentive to launch a summer Tet, sneer at them about the monthly cost of the war. No good news can go unanswered, no matter how many qualifiers that news comes with.

As for the prospect of mass casualties after a U.S. pullout, that’s their problem.