"A LITTLE BETTER EACH DAY"

Ambushes of our troops in the Sunni triangle have been described in excruciating detail on the evening news. Pessimism has been expressed as a nightly ritual, and the angry crowds in Baghdad have colored our country's view of Iraq's future...

Although the hit-and-run attacks continue, with every passing day, more militants are running than are hitting us. One of the aphorisms that our seasoned combat veterans routinely share with younger soldiers on approaching long deployments is especially fitting here: "Let's make things a little better each day."

This advice might just as well be proffered to media commentators, Congress and a concerned public regarding their expectations for progress in Iraq.

When you see soldiers on the street patrolling with the new Iraqi police officers, you know there is great hope. When you have seen the stark difference between the empty and frightened streets of early April and the bustling markets of today, you feel the hope. The well-publicized incidents of violence are spasms of resistance to a concept so compelling it cannot be denied -- freedom. The attacks themselves are generated by small bands of militants and hired guns at the behest of "return party" chieftains and terrorist financiers.

And when you have the chance to see the steely determination of American and coalition soldiers serving here through the heat of each day, you cannot help knowing that hope has already defeated tyranny.