"Rare Success" in Iraq

New resident Ed Morrissey (from formally Captain's Quarters) at Hot Air has posted another success story that involves the progress in Iraq:

Mahdis sign over Sadr City to Maliki, victory celebrations in media pending

Get ready for more celebrations of Moqtada al-Sadr in the American media. Earlier today, he signed over control of Sadr City to the Nouri al-Maliki government in Baghdad, effectively ending his grip on any territory in Iraq. In the document, the Sadrists recognize the elected government as the sole legitimate authority in Sadr City and everywhere else in Iraq:

“We have signed the agreement today,” said Khalid al-Attiyah, the deputy parliamentary speaker from the main Shiite political bloc, United Iraqi Alliance.

Al-Attiyah said the cease-fire went into effect on Sunday and Iraqi forces will be allowed to enter the area as early as Wednesday and “take over the security there.”

The statement said “the government will decide on the number of Iraqi forces to be deployed in Sadr City to achieve security, in order to refrain from asking help from foreign forces,” a reference to the U.S. military.

“Any attack against residential areas, government offices and the Green Zone are prohibited from Sadr City or from another area,” the agreement said.

The cease-fire stipulates that Iraqi forces have the right to “impose the law and to pursue illegal situations.”

The government will allow the Mahdis to retain personal small arms, but anyone with anything heavier will be subject to arrest or attack. Those efforts continued today to clear Sadr City of splinter elements who have not accepted the cease-fire, with several more radicals killed by Iraqi and American forces. The agreement will not keep Maliki from imposing his will on the Baghdad suburb any more than a similar capitulation did in Basra, where Maliki uprooted the Mahdis from control after several years.........Link

Meanwhile the New York Times gets around to recognizing this piece of history calling it a "rare success":

Three hundred miles south of Baghdad, the oil-saturated city of Basra has been transformed by its own surge, now seven weeks old.

In a rare success, forces loyal to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki have largely quieted the city, to the initial surprise and growing delight of many inhabitants who only a month ago shuddered under deadly clashes between Iraqi troops and Shiite militias....... Link

Earth to Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and the anti-war left nutcases: We are winning this war in Iraq and the Iraqi people are stepping up while our troops are close to claiming VICTORY! This will bring our troops home much quicker than passing meaningless legislation or the media's obsession with reporting only the setbacks while ignoring real success that gets RARELY REPORTED.