The anti-war left has, with some qualifications of course, turned the corner. Here’s Richard Gwyn in the Toronto Star today:

President George W. Bush wasn't right to invade Iraq. His justifications for doing so were (almost all of them) either frivolous, in comparison to the scale of the venture, or were outright fraudulent. Having conquered Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein, Bush and his officials and generals then made every blunder that could be imagined by an occupying power, adding several original ones of their own. But on the defining, fundamental question, Bush was right. He understood that to defeat an idea, no matter how perverse and brutal it might be, it was necessary to have an opposite and superior idea.

He understood, in other words — instinctively rather than intellectually — that the only way to win a war against terrorism was to turn it into a war for democracy.

As I said, it’s too early to expect an unqualified buy-in, but the various reactions from the "other side" since last Sunday are beginning to look encouraging. And with some of the irrationality evaporating from the anti-war and Bush-bashing crowd we may see more support and thus a far more unified approach on national and international levels to wage the War on Terror and spread freedom, in the Middle East and beyond. Those that remain in opposition are now taking a firm stand against democracy, and that can only be territory for the seriously unhinged fringe. Remember the Trotskyites demonstrating against Bush?

Not only has the Bush strategy been validated by Iraq’s general election, it has now been condensed in a workable mantra that should bring many skeptics on board to provide help and support where it is really needed.

UPDATE: Good commentary on the potential for change in and beyond Iraq from the guestblogging team and Michael Totten's site, here and here.