"A Magnificent Victory"

A couple of readers have asked why I haven't commented on Iraq's historic win in Sunday's final of the Asian Cup. The answer is that I haven't had anything particularly novel to say. Until now.

Yesterday I attended a meeting with Iraq's Minister of Justice, the agenda for which, unsurprisingly, focused on continuing rule of law efforts. How do we deal with the growing number of detainees? What problems have arisen with release and/or detention without justification? Which priorities to implement ahead of Gen. Petraeus's report to Congress in September?

As I sat there in the musty warmth (90 degrees, the Iraqis apparently sharing the European attitude toward air conditioning) of the Justice Ministry, I thought of how remarkable it was to be discussing these issues that just two weeks ago were abstractions in far-away lands. Yet here we were, an interpreter at the ready, with Windows XP on the Minister's computer, CNN on the TV, and fake flowers sprouting out of every corner of the office.

The first topic of conversation was, naturally, the soccer team's "magnificent victory." It's a nice bit of diplomacy, of course -- invoking the requisite metaphor to how Iraq's methodical, unglamorous defense won over Saudi Arabia's flashy attack -- but the result also symbolizes the first signs of Iraq's rebirth as a nation. For one afternoon, it was not Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd, but everyone Iraqi.

And when the insurgents -- whether Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) or others -- tried to take advantage of the celebrations by setting off car bombs among the revelers (as they did after the semi-finals), all they did was antagonize the population against them further.

Just as he did with his 101st Airborne as a two-star general in the early part of the war, the four-star Petraeus understands the meaning of "clear and hold." It is slow work, but when you show that America is here to help, unlike AQI, even the most hardened Sunnis begin to take note.