A surge of denial?

In today's WaPo, Charles Krauthammer today takes leading Democrats to task for acting as if the progress in Iraq isn't meaningful.

The revival of ordinary life in many cities is palpable. Something important is happening. And what is the reaction of the war critics? Nancy Pelosi stoutly maintains her state of denial, saying this about the war just two weeks ago: "This is not working. . . . We must reverse it." A euphemism for "abandon the field," which is what every Democratic presidential candidate is promising, with variations only in how precipitous to make the retreat.

This is fair enough in parts. As Mickey Kaus has argued, recent Democratic attempts to spin good news as bad have been weak. And the Democrats may ultimately pay a price for having pooh-poohed a strategy that is showing signs of success. But let's not forget the implicit corollary to surge success: that the cycle of violence in Iraq might have been arrested much earlier—with countless lives saved—had the administration recognized earlier the need for basic security.