It ain't all bad

Howard Dean says.

The "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong."

But wait.

Dec. 12, 2005 — Surprising levels of optimism prevail in Iraq with living conditions improved, security more a national worry than a local one, and expectations for the future high. But views of the country's situation overall are far less positive, and there are vast differences in views among Iraqi groups — a study in contrasts between increasingly disaffected Sunni areas and vastly more positive Shiite and Kurdish provinces.

An ABC News poll in Iraq, conducted with Time magazine and other media partners, includes some remarkable results: Despite the daily violence there, most living conditions are rated positively, seven in 10 Iraqis say their own lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve in the year ahead.

Sounds to me like success may be more likely than ever right now, despite the gigantic screwups that have occurred along the way.

December 15 is going to be a very big day.