Iraq - victory or defeat?

Many of us want the United States to 'win' in Iraq. But what is winning?

This is a serious question that needs to be addressed because it is a question the United States public lost sight of during Vietnam.

Is winning in Iraq purely military? No, and it shouldn't be. Military objectives being completed is only part of the victory.

For Iraq to be a 'success' and for the United States to be able to declare victory, I believe we can use Afghanistan as a model.
Afghanistan sports a high approval rate of the United States, is relatively trouble free, most of Afghanistan's former terrorist related threats to the United States are nullified, reconstruction efforts are going full steam ahead, they are now are an official democracy for the first time ever, and the Afghanistan government is a steadfast ally of the United States.

Afghanistan is a huge success. The only thing needed now is for the Afghan people to be able to continue on this path without the United States holding it's hand. This will take a few years yet.

The same applies to Iraq. In my mind, for Iraq to be a success for everyone it needs to have similar conditions over the next few years.
If the elections go smoothly that is a major victory in the battle for an Iraqi success, even if the elected government isn't a steadfast ally of America, as long as they respect the sovereignty of their neighbours, combat terrorism, and stay the course to freedom and respect their new constitution Iraq will be a success.
Another major factor is that Iraq has the ability to police itself and maintain security across the country. Since the Iraqi army was effectively dismantled and being rebuilt from the ground up (something many people disagree with, but given its former success rate, it's probably a good thing) this may take some time yet.

However I think the biggest factor of an Iraqi success, which we may not see for another 10 years yet, lie in the words of Omar from Iraq the Model:

My hope is that I can just live a normal life. Id love to just work as a dentist, I really love to be a dentist, and Id like to just go home and relax and watch soccer on TV and have a quiet evening with my family. Thats what we want.

So is the United States winning? So far they are meeting all their objectives.
Yes it is going slowly with bumps in the road, but in the words of Rumsfeld this is a test of wills. The first major victory for the United States (and the Iraqi's) was the re-election of George Bush, the second major battle is coming.

The turning point in the war in Iraq will certainly be the upcoming elections. I think that if things go well and the new Iraqi government is sensible, it will slowly take over security in the country and U.S. forces will slowly leave.
If the new Iraqi government however is struck with sensationalism, riding on the crest of victory, and demands the U.S. forces to leave, the country may denigrate into civil war. Omar and Mohammed don't believe this will happen, and I have faith in them.
But even if U.S. forces are asked to leave so long as Iraq is governed in a way so it reaches what Omar wants, a free society, it will be a huge victory in the long run.

The people of the Middle East want reform - reading comments translated from BBC Arabic reflects this want, and reform is needed.
Terrorism is rife because of the frustrations and humiliations many in the Arab world are forced to suffer under their current leadership, and America (and Israel) are unfortunate scapegoats.
If Iraq and Afghanistan can offer a better way of life for the people of the Middle East with or without America's help, this can still be a great victory.