THE NEWS out of Iraq must be getting hard for the defeat-at-any-cost crowd to bear.
BAGHDAD, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Violence in Iraq has dropped by 70 percent since the end of June, when U.S. forces completed their build-up of 30,000 extra troops to stabilise the war-torn country, the Interior Ministry said on Monday. ... While the leaders have failed to agree on key laws aimed at reconciling the country's warring sects, the troop buildup has succeeded in quelling the violence.