General David Petraeus provides a candid look at 2007 in Iraq. His bottom line is the one that so many Americans and virtually all fundamentalist Leftists choose to miss: progress has been made in Iraq, and while that progress is fragile, progress can still be made in 2008.

Benazir Bhutto was hardly a saint, but she was likely the best chance for the return of some semblance of democracy and a true hard line against the Fundamentalist Muslims that threaten to overwhelm her country.

The thing that strikes me about this letter and the countless ones like it that I have read or heard related over the past several years is that it is coming from the wrong side of the conversation. Make no mistake, I appreciate every word that LTC Crider has to say, and in my own very limited way I have experienced something of the same, but it seems strange to me every time I see an American service member thanking America for an opportunity to serve and grow in a cause most Americans have essentially abandoned.

Today, around the world, people celebrate one of the oldest and most persistent holy days of mankind, the day chosen to commemorate the birth of one man into the world in a stable in Bethlehem.

As part of the ongoing upgrade of the Worldview website, I have implemented an update theme. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you like and don’t like by posting comments on this post. -=DLH=-