Reporting on the continually improving situation in Iraq, Damien Cave and Alissa Rubin of The New York Times report on the security improvements in Baghdad and the effect on the local population.  This article is especially striking due to the dearth of coverage in the Times regarding the progress being made in Iraq.  With such undeniable gains  being made in the situation on the ground, tens of thousands of residents are now returning to their homes and reopening their businesses.

“Our aim is to fight terrorism,” Mrs. Aasan said. “We want them to overcome their personal experiences.”

The library closed last year because parents would not let their children out of sight. Now, most of the children walk on their own from homes nearby — another sign of the city’s improved ease of movement.

A similar article this morning by Tina Susman in the Los Angeles Times reports that the Iraqi government has said that the worst is over in Baghdad.  The Iraqis point to security statistics to show that American and Iraqi forces have "defeated the forces of darkness" in and around the city.  The United States now believes it crucial the  government in Baghdad take advantage of the relative calm to politically unify their government.

And in an editorial in Human Events, Major General Vallely and Fred Gedrich author an editorial discussing the need for an Iranian policy which matches the level of threat they pose to the United States.  After discussing the dangers of the current Iranian government and its ties to terrorism, the authors state that “After years of hand-wringing and failed diplomatic efforts dating back to the Carter presidency, Americans deserve a policy commensurate with the security threat.  It must be one that drives the current Iranian thugs from power.”