It's Not Over Until It's Over

Lots of temptation to rush to judgment.  Especially these days when folks want to declare Al Qaeda losers in the round of middle east political transitions.  There is something to this as the events have shown:

1. Political change is possible without extremist violence.
2. The people of the region care more about jobs and liberty than about religion, especially the extremely retrogressive band that AQ seeks to sell.
3. The US is not propping these governments up ... if the people push hard enough.

But in each case, the show is not over, the game has not ended, the metaphors will continue!  That is, we have not reached a stable outcome in any of these places yet.  Tunisia and Egypt have not suddenly become Denmark, and the transitions will be bumpy and quite reversible.  So, AQ may have lost in the short (and, yes, they have lost in the short-term big time), but they are in it for the long haul.