CRITICS BEGAN USING the “Q” word to describe the war in Iraq two years ago, well before the Sunni insurgency and al Qaeda franchise-leader Abu Mussab al Zarqawi began inflicting serious casualties on U.S. and coalition forces.

Today President George W. Bush’s approval ratings are in the tank and calls for an unequivocal pull-out from the Iraqi “quagmire” are starting to be heard on Capitol Hill. But does this mean that the coalition is actually failing?