ROCCO DIPIPPO reports from Baghdad: “I have observed first-hand the effects of the Bush Administration’s new Iraq security plan since it began two months ago. Street violence in Baghdad and surrounding areas has declined. Shops and markets once boarded up are reopening. Iraqi civilians are venturing out onto the streets again and living their lives with less fear of being persecuted, tortured, maimed or killed. To be sure, there is still plenty of terror and violence in Iraq, but since the ‘troop surge’ began, it has lessened considerably.” May it continue to do so.

UPDATE: Sigh.