All but won

Jack Kelly is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and I've often enjoyed his relatively (for the MSM) clear-eyed commentary. But he outdid himself today with an excellent column that says very straightforwardly what the MSM has claimed all along was impossible: that the war in Iraq is "all but won." Amongst the gems:

It will be some months before the news media recognize it, and a few months more before they acknowledge it, but the war in Iraq is all but won. The situation is roughly analogous to the battle of Iwo Jima, which took place 60 years ago this month. It took 35 days before the island was declared secure, but the outcome was clear after day five, with the capture of Mt. Suribachi.

And this conclusion:

Those who get their news from the "mainstream" media are surprised by developments in Iraq, as they were surprised by our swift victory in Afghanistan, the sudden fall of Saddam Hussein, the success of the Afghan election and the success of the Iraqi election.

Journalists demand accountability from political leaders for "quagmires" which exist chiefly in the imagination of journalists. But when will journalists be held to account for getting every major development in the war on terror wrong?

Jack Kelly is my MSM hero for the day...