Heard about this one on Drudge earlier this evening. Apparently, Frank Rich (of the New York Times - put on that "surprise" face) has taken it upon himself to declare our defeat in Iraq. That's right: Frank says we've already lost. Hope is gone.

"The longer we pretend that we have not lost there, the more we risk losing other wars we still may salvage, starting with Afghanistan."

Alert the President. Splash it on the Iraqi newspapers. Hell...get word to Osama bin Laden: The United States has lost.

I mean, what else could Mr. Rich be looking to do with this story, other than bolster our enemies and demoralize our nation even further? I'm sure the journalist would simply say that he is "stating the obvious" or "reporting the truth". But sometimes "truth" just isn't what it seems to be.

By my last estimate, we still have thousands of troops on the ground in Iraq. In the town of Ramadi, we're killing terrorists at a ratio of around 75:1, according to a fantastic (fact-based, first-hand experience) article by Michael Fumento. The number of successes cannot even be counted. Of course, the number of failures is unacceptable. But to simply declare defeat in the midst of struggle as important as Iraq is not only reprehensible. It is unpatriotic, it is pathetic, it is unprofessional, and it is - to put it simply - sad.

Thank God this man wasn't born in time to predict our defeat in WWII, because we now know that he would have, if he'd had the chance.