As President Bush's term winds down, signs are there that the war on terror is being won. The conflict in Iraq is ebbing, and worldwide terror attacks are down. When will someone call it what it is? VICTORY.

Back from the front, Gen. David Petraeus called on Congress Thursday to begin considering a drawdown of US troops after five years of war. Violence in Iraq has plunged to its lowest levels since 2004, and Al Qaeda is a tattered shadow of its former self — key leaders dead, successors weak and recruiting down.

'My sense' Petraeus said, 'is I will be able to make a recommendation (in the autumn) for further reductions.' This is no Saigon-style exit, but a coming victorious end of a long conflict. US forces have pounded Al Qaeda into irrelevance.