The contrasting views on the future of Iraq are well summed up by the following:

Seize the Day:"Our objective in Iraq is victory", by Paul Bremer in the WSJ:

George Bush made his trip to Baghdad, he told the new prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, "to look you in the eye." Yet his surprise visit established more than a first-hand connection. It signposted the dramatic events of the past week, which bode well both for Iraq's future and for the broader war on terrorism. As he stood in the hall of one of Saddam's former palaces--quite literally in the eye of the storm--Mr. Bush implored the Iraqis to "seize the moment." There are now emerging indications that they are doing just that

and these two political cartoons:

I don't know, which view will turn out to be more accurate. While I hope for the former, experience suggests that the latter is more likely. In any case, though, the Republicans are, per force, betting big that the American people will decide that Bremer is closer to the truth:

Bush Sees Progress in Iraq (WaPo)

President Bush said yesterday that the United States is making steady progress in Iraq toward its goal of standing up a government that can sustain and protect the country, but he emphasized that the ultimate success of the U.S.-led venture lies in the hands of Iraqis.

The Republican Party's Iraq Offensive (LAT)

The Iraq war is the most immediate foreign policy problem besetting the Bush administration. But as a political issue, the White House and top Republican strategists have concluded that the war is a clear winner.

GOP Measure Forces House Debate on War (WaPo)

Nearly four years after it authorized the use of force in Iraq, the House today will embark on its first extended debate on the war, with Republican leaders daring Democrats to vote against a nonbinding resolution to hold firm on Iraq and the war on terrorism.

In the wake of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death and President Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad, Republican leaders are moving quickly to capitalize on good news and trying to force Democrats on the defensive.

And, in other news:

Iraq Amnesty Plan May Cover Attacks On U.S. Military (WaPo)

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Wednesday proposed a limited amnesty to help end the Sunni Arab insurgency as part of a national reconciliation plan that Maliki said would be released within days. The plan is likely to include pardons for those who had attacked only U.S. troops, a top adviser said. [Emphasis supplied].

Jihadist or Victim: Ex-Detainee Makes a Case (NYT)

When President Bush ordered Moazzam Begg's release last year from the Guantánamo prison camp, United States officials say, he did so over objections from the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. — all of which warned that Mr. Begg could still be a dangerous terrorist.

But American officials may not have imagined the sort of adversary Mr. Begg would become in the war of perception that is now a primary front in the American-led campaign against terrorism.

Palestinians Mount Violent Protest Over Lack of Paychecks (NYT)

Palestinian civil servants stormed the parliament building in the West Bank on Wednesday demanding back pay and chanting "We are hungry!"

Fistfights broke out as protesters hurled plastic water bottles at legislators from Hamas, the militant group that controls parliament, forcing the speaker to flee the building.

It was the second violent protest this week at parliament, in Ramallah, and underscored growing pressure on the Hamas government on several fronts.

Judge Rules That U.S. Has Broad Powers to Detain Noncitizens Indefinitely (NYT)

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled yesterday that the government has wide latitude under immigration law to detain noncitizens on the basis of religion, race or national origin, and to hold them indefinitely without explanation. . . . But the judge, . . .[also]allowed the lawsuit to continue on other claims, mostly that the conditions of confinement were abusive and unconstitutional . . . [and] require[d] top federal officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Robert S. Mueller III, the F.B.I. director, to answer to those accusations under oath.

U.S.-Led Forces in Afghanistan Poised for New Strike on Taliban (LAT)

The U.S. military said more than 11,000 Afghan, American, British and Canadian troops would begin Operation Mountain Thrust against Taliban fighters today in the four southern provinces where the insurgents are strongest: Zabol, Kandahar, Helmand and Oruzgan.