The inside story on the night-to-day transformation in Iraq

Iraq has faded from the headlines. The reasons are plain. Last month, the U.S. death toll was the lowest of the five-year war. Today, hopeful success stories are replacing the drumbeat of failure.

How did the despair of a year ago, which seemed intractable, reverse so quickly?

Minnesotans don't need a Pentagon briefing to find out. We've got a local guy, just back from Iraq, whose firsthand perspective can shed light on this remarkable change.

Pete Hegseth, who grew up in Forest Lake, recently moved back to Minneapolis from Washington, D.C. For eight months in 2005 and 2006, he served as an Army lieutenant in Samarra, north of Baghdad and one of the bloodiest cities in the Sunni Triangle. On his return, he became a critic of U.S. military policy, calling in a Wall Street Journal article for more troops and new counter-insurgency tactics.

Two weeks ago, Hegseth returned to Iraq with members of Vets for Freedom, an advocacy group of which he is chairman. The transformation he saw in Samarra, he says, has given him great hope.

Hegseth was particularly startled to come face to face with Abu Saif, a former Sunni insurgent who is now a U.S. ally and a leader in the battle to retake the city from Al-Qaida in Iraq. "In 2006, Abu Saif was on our list of 'High Value Targets' to capture or kill," explained Hegseth. "Now, I was shaking his hand, breaking bread with him, and working to expel a common enemy."

Recently, Saif helped train U.S. troops in "how to defeat insurgents," he added, sharing details about how they attack and escape, and where they hide their weapons and money.

Moreover, Samarra's Sunni residents have discovered that Al-Qaida is in their city, not to help them, but to exploit them, says Hegseth. They have seen Al-Qaida operatives behead children in front of their parents, chop off people's fingers to punish them for smoking, and carry out indiscriminate bombings in market places, he says.

In 2007, local leaders -- many of them former Sunni insurgents -- started the Samarra Rescue Council to expel the terrorists who had infiltrated their neighborhoods. But they got nowhere until months later, after the U.S. troop surge, when they found a U.S. battalion willing to collaborate in bold new counter-insurgency tactics.

Hegseth points to the "Safe Neighborhoods" program as an example of success.

First, U.S. and Iraqi forces sweep through a neighborhood, driving out Al-Qaida forces block by block. As they clear each area, they erect physical barriers to ensure that gains are sustained.

As part of the process, they carry out a house-to-house census -- taking photos of all adult male occupants, and stenciling the address and number of males and cars on outside walls. "The process looks intrusive," said Heseth, "but it actually liberates local citizens by giving them an opportunity to prevent Al-Qaida from using their homes and neighborhoods. Some families have actually run after soldiers, asking to participate, if their house has been missed by mistake."

Hegseth is greatly encouraged by the progress in Samarra, which he says is mirrored throughout Iraq. But he remains wary that U.S. forces and the Iraqi government will disband the Sons of Samarra before the security environment can be maintained without their presence.

The stakes are high, he adds. By doing what it takes to succeed in Iraq, we can demonstrate to both our allies and our enemies that America is committed to vanquishing a violent ideology in the heart of the Middle East.