From Michael Yon:

The war continues to abate in Iraq. Violence is still present, but, of course, Iraq was a relatively violent place long before Coalition forces moved in. I would go so far as to say that barring any major and unexpected developments (like an Israeli air strike on Iran and the retaliations that would follow), a fair-minded person could say with reasonable certainty that the war has ended. A new and better nation is growing legs. What's left is messy politics that likely will be punctuated by low-level violence and the occasional spectacular attack. Yet, the will of the Iraqi people has changed, and the Iraqi military has dramatically improved, so those spectacular at...

From Michael Yon:

The war continues to abate in Iraq. Violence is still present, but, of course, Iraq was a relatively violent place long before Coalition forces moved in. I would go so far as to say that barring any major and unexpected developments (like an Israeli air strike on Iran and the retaliations that would follow), a fair-minded person could say with reasonable certainty that the war has ended. A new and better nation is growing legs. What's left is messy politics that likely will be punctuated by low-level violence and the occasional spectacular attack. Yet, the will of the Iraqi people has changed, and the Iraqi military has dramatically improved, so those spectacular attacks are diminishing along with the regular violence. Now it's time to rebuild the country, and create a pluralistic, stable and peaceful Iraq. That will be long, hard work. But by my estimation, the Iraq War is over. We won. Which means the Iraqi people won.

First, to early to dance the victory dance. We have heard all of that before. Also an American victory is not necessarily an Iraqi victory. The neocons want a Imperial proxy in the region, the Iraqis simply want to be left alone. Also the levels of violence are the same as 2006 and at that time they where deemed serious. These people talk as if they never heard of an insurgency or how they operate.

Wrong clip to post on Yon... that was on the other clip, but I will respond anyway.

How do you know the Iraqis only want to be left alone... did you also go to the Iraqi websites I have directed you to? They don't advocate that position. The positions in Iraq are as diverse as the positions in the United States about our own government. The levels of violence are not the same as 2006. The electricity is better than at any point since the hostilities started and the infrastructure is steadily improving. The electricity in Baghdad is less, but then Saddam only provided electricity to Baghdad for 20 hours a day and it is now closer to 12-15, but that is because it is being redistribute...

Wrong clip to post on Yon... that was on the other clip, but I will respond anyway.

How do you know the Iraqis only want to be left alone... did you also go to the Iraqi websites I have directed you to? They don't advocate that position. The positions in Iraq are as diverse as the positions in the United States about our own government. The levels of violence are not the same as 2006. The electricity is better than at any point since the hostilities started and the infrastructure is steadily improving. The electricity in Baghdad is less, but then Saddam only provided electricity to Baghdad for 20 hours a day and it is now closer to 12-15, but that is because it is being redistributed to the areas that Saddam ignored and had zero to 4 hours of electricity. Now that the "insurgents" are not continually attacking the infrastructure, we can set about to improving it for all of Iraq, not just the areas where Saddam's tribe was dominant. More schools, hospitals, goverment services are operating than at any point since Saddam was dethroned. The markets are open and in many areas, soldiers are free to visit at their leisure. They have favorite restaurants they visit, favorite stores they shop in and families they check on regularly. Was that happening 12-18 months ago? No.

As for Yon and Totten's knowledge of insurgencies and how they operate, I venture that their knowledge would make most of the pundits and columnists that you are listening to look like rank impostors. The fact is the "insurgents" went back to beating their swords into plows long ago and joined the awakening and the majority of what is left is swiftly relocating to Afghanistan. They were also known as "AL QAEDA in Iraq" and they are swiftly being killing or vacating the area. There is a vast difference in Arabic/Persian/Kurds and they know a foreigner when they see one and are ridding themselves of the troublemakers...and it's not us that is making the trouble.