The bitter end: Democrats are right to push for an end to the Iraq war. But don't expect the troops to be grateful.

In 2003, an optimist could hope that the United States would establish a liberal democracy in Iraq. Four years into the war in Iraq, an optimist can hope that a "surge" of 30,000 troops will help stabilize an illiberal, Iran-aligned Shiite government. The tactical merits of the surge matter little when set against a simple truth: successes of any sort have become increasingly modest, and the overall strategic picture has become increasingly grim.

At the local level, as with most wars, there are discrete successes. They do not reverse the larger trend. And, as time goes on, even the good news becomes more ambiguous. Sectarian violence in the capital is down by about a third since January, but the overall level of violence in the city, in the form of assassinations and bombings, has remained unchanged, prompting a United Nations report i...

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