Tests Passed Already

General Odierno reinforces my belief that Iraqi security forces are up to the task of defeating the reduced terrorist threat (reduced because of our successful surge offensive, of course) by noting that we've already been out of many of Iraq's urban centers for quite some time now, with lower monthly Iraqi civilian casualties showing the Iraqis can do the job:

Actually we've been out of the cities, a large majority of the cities now, for the last eight months. So it's really only Mosul and the last remnants that we've had, in Baghdad, that have pulled out over the last few weeks.

Not that keeping control of Baghdad isn't critical. Even during the height of the violence in Iraq, large portions of Iraq were peaceful. But violence in the capital is an obvious failure. In the summer of 2006, I was writing about the importance of regaining control of Baghdad.

But with many of Iraq's cities already relying on Iraqis for frontline security, we've had the chance to test the Iraqis. I have some small worry that the Iraqis will have troubles in the weeks ahead, but I think they'll pass this big test in the capital.