This does sound like a working Surge

Since DQ asked in a comment how we can tell if the surge is working, I’ve been collecting links to blogs and articles that discuss that point.  The Captain has a lucid summary of an article in The Australian in which General Petraeus gives the heads-up about his probable report to Congress.  It all sounds good if you believe, as I do, that the Surge’s purpose is to use a powerful American military offensive to stop on the ground fighting in Iraq, thereby creating a window of peace in which lasting political progress take place.