On a series of maps just released by the Multi-National Force-Iraq, control of the country is shown shaded in green. On a January 2006 map, the shaded areas showing where Iraqi forces were “in the lead” were few and far between.

Each month following, though, showed additional areas turning green. By August 2006, more than half of Iraq was shaded. On later maps, an additional legend identified areas under “provisional Iraqi control” designated by a darker shade of green. By June 2007, more than half of the shaded area had been converted to dark green.

Such a visual illustration of progress being achieved in Iraq is something most Americans have yet to see. Instead they are still getting mostly negative images in their newspaper and television coverage.

Don’t get me wrong — I am not planning to vacation in Iraq anytime soon. It is still a violent and volatile place and those negative images are a big part of the story, but there is another part that has to be shown for the public to get the full picture. As the green map illustrates, and many other reports from Iraq indicate, there is some progress to report from Iraq.

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In a press conference last week, President Bush reported that progress has been made on eight of the 18 “benchmarks” set for Iraq. The hope is that with better-than-expected progress being made on the military front, the environment will be set for political progress to follow.

Although there is still a long way to go before those 18 benchmarks are fully met, there are definite signs of progress in Iraq. In some cases, the progress has exceeded expectations. Anbar province, which a year ago was declared by intelligence experts to be lost to al Qaeda, is being described by some as an “astonishing success.”

The turning point was when tribal leaders joined forces to work with U.S. and Iraqi forces to fight al Qaeda. Results can be seen in the city of Ramadi, once an al Qaeda stronghold, which is now relatively secure.

According to Omar Fadhil, an Iraqi blogger known for straight talk, changes are evident. “The district where al Qaeda claimed to have established its Islamic emirate is exactly where al Qaeda is losing big now, and at the hands of its former allies who have turned on al Qaeda and are slowly reaching out to the government. While al Qaeda and Sadr are by no means finished off militarily, what has changed is that both of them are fighting their former public base of support. That course can’t lead them to success in fomenting the sectarian war they had bet their money on.”

In a recent interview, Michael Yon, an independent journalist embedded in Iraq, told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he was finally willing to say publicly that he is seeing positive results of the counteroffensive: “I feel like it’s starting to succeed. And you know, I’m kind of stretching a little bit, because we haven’t gone too far into it, but I can see it from my travels around, for instance, in Anbar and out here in Diyala Province as well. Baghdad’s still very problematic. But there’s other areas where you can clearly see that there is a positive effect. … I sense that the surge is working.”

Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner reports that “Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed or captured hundreds of al Qaeda members in Iraq over the past two months, including 26 of the terror network’s ‘high-value’ leaders.”

In June, coalition forces uncovered an al Qaeda media center that was used to produce and distribute terrorist propaganda. Bergner said 65 hard drives, 18 “thumb drives,” more than 500 CDs, and 12 personal computers containing recruiting and other terrorism-related materials were found.

The center, which included a film studio, “produced CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets and Web-related propaganda products, and contained documents clearly identifying al Qaeda in Iraq’s intent to use media as a weapon,” he said.

Other encouraging signs of progress cited by Bergner are some 23,000 tips that local residents have given Coalition forces, and the “support councils” in Anbar province which have resulted in increased cooperation from tribal sheiks.

As Bush and Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the Multi-National Force, warned when the “surge” counteroffensive began, success in Iraq will not be quick or easy. Signs of progress are emerging though. As recently as a few months ago, many would not have believed progress in Iraq was possible.

Lorie Byrd is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and blogs at Wizbangblog.com.