dude, even i admit that these achievements are something to regard well, here in NZ we take our news from both the BBC, ITV as well as US sources...so we manage to piece a pretty good picture (better than most IMO)
Iraq IS calming down, an impact is being made on the insurgents (freedom fighters/resistance etc etc!)...just as much by ordinary iraqis as by US forces.
the US invasion was illegal IMHO and the reasoning on WMD's was dodgy at best
however, the long term results of the way the US administration handled the lead up to the war will be shown eventually.
that shouldn't take away from what troops on the ground are able to acheive, they are (for the most part) good soldiers wanting to help, the sins of the administration are not theirs...
IMHO