Now if only the Democrats who want to be president would acknowledge the new reality.

“We cannot ignore the recent improvements both in the security and political situation in Iraq,” Staffan de Mistura, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), said in a speech to the Security Council.

He said the reduced level of violence could be attributed to a number of factors including the increased presence of U.S. and other troops, a ceasefire declared by Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia, and increased cooperation with Iraq’s neighbors.

There’s obviously some grudging in the statement (surge + COIN strategy is the main reason for the improvement), and he went on to offer a “yeah, but” on the politics, but the fact that the security situation has improved to the extent that the UN has to recognize it is a dramatic turn from where we were a year ago.

Is the war still lost, Harry?

(photo from DVIDS)