There is no need for American Thinker to note the number of troops we have in Iraq since the drawdown has been covered so heavily in the mainstream press. But just for completeness, it turns out that we now have 98,000 troops in Iraq, down from a peak of 165,000 in 2007 during the surge.

Congratulations to President Bush who had the fortitude to see the mission through in the face of uncertainty, obloquy and ridicule; to General Petraeus, who restored the word "victory" to the American vocabulary; to General Odierno who executed the strategy; and to the troops without whom we would be naked to our enemies. And also to General Keane and Fred Kagan who provided the blueprint for success.

The naysayers? They know who they are. They had Harry "the war is lost" Reid to speak for them, and if he seems to be a defeatist, well, events have spoken. And we don't want to forget retired General Sheehan who felt that helping President Bush fight the war was not worth his efforts and wanted to be sure the public knew it.