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"We're winning" the war in Iraq, according to a new ad from an independent group called Vets For Freedom.

The group is spending $1.5 million to run the spot, which closely echoes the rhetoric of presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, largely in swing states.

"Casualties are at an all-time low," says one of the eight veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who appears in the spot. "Al Qaeda in Iraq is decimated," he adds, as the words "essentially defeated" appear on the screen.

"These are the facts – they can't be ignored," those appearing in the ad continue. "We changed strategy in Iraq, and the surge worked. Now that's change we can believe in."

"We need to finish the job, no matter who is President," they conclude.

McCain has been a strong proponent of the "surge" strategy, and has promised to largely continue the present Iraq policy if elected; rival Barack Obama has vowed to begin bringing troops home soon after he takes office.

Vets For Freedom cannot legally coordinate with the McCain campaign, and chairman Pete Hegseth said the group was not acting on the presumptive GOP nominee's behalf.

Hegseth told the Washington Post that the spot was running in the swing states of Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia because citizens in those states have a "heightened awareness" of important issues due to their swing-state status.

"It's not an attack on anybody. We're not taking on any presidential candidates," he added.

Watch it:

On a conference call this morning, a number of Democratic superdelegates affiliated with the Win Without War Coalition argued that the party must be unified when it comes to opposing the war in Iraq, opposing torture, and backing a "diplomatic surge" in the Middle East.

Tom Andrews, a former Maine Congressman and National Director of Win Without War, argued that the intense media coverage of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton "is obscuring the common ground of Democrats around the country."

Andrews said that the effort is being launched by 16 superdelegates – Obama supporters, Clinton supporters, and the uncommitted – who call for the group's proposals to be incorporated into the Democratic Party platform.

The superdelegates stressed that the differences between the Democratic candidates paled in comparison to those between the two parties.

Democrats must be clear, said Congressman Jim McGovern, that if they win the White House, "we absolutely will bring our troops home."

He added that Democrats "can't be vague or fuzzy" on their position on Iraq. "We will end it, they will not," said McGovern.

"Every candidate needs to know what their base demands of them," said Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey in explaining why the effort had been launched. "We don't want them to waver."