MORE IRAQ REPORTING FROM MICHAEL YON: Read the whole thing, but here’s an encouraging excerpt:

A positive indicator on the 19th and the 20th is that most local people apparently are happy that al Qaeda is being trapped and killed. Civilians are pointing out IEDs and enemy fighters, so that’s not working so well for al Qaeda. Clearly, I cannot do a census, but that says something about the locals.

Let’s hope so.