In the huge, over-warm tent at Kabul's Polytechnical University, before Afghan presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah announced that he would "not participate in the election," a qari sang verses from the holy Qur'an. He sang, tremulous, sad as funeral bells, for several minutes. Foreign correspondents yawned, white bearded oldsters adjusted...

War has many definitions in Iraq. This is why it is possible to hear that the war is winding down, and then wake up to the news that 150 Iraqis were killed in coordinated suicide attacks across Baghdad in just two days. This is what happened last week. I have...