Hi Carl,
Glad you liked the interview. Couple responses

1) I've talked to people who worked in the govt & White House during the Bush years and they have different opinions on what happened. Some think the Bush admin was just as divided as others others say it was a real battle between organizations. It seems like each individual and institution had its own view of Iraq. Rumsfeld was against national building for example and wanted out of Iraq as soon as the invasion was over. Gen. Abizaid and Adm Fallon believed that the US was destabilizing Iraq so wanted out. The Joint Chiefs thought the troops deployments was breaking the military and wanted out. Rice & The NSC were looking for ways to win, etc. I take the view that there were deep internal divisions within the administration that hamstrung Iraq policy until 07 and the Surge.

2) Al Qaeda seems to be taking a two different strategies in Syria & Iraq. In Syria they appear to be doing a lot of hearts & minds ops learning from Iraq. In Iraq however its all terror, although they are trying to portray themselves as the protector of the Sunnis. I think Iraq's previous experience with AQI is the reason why they're gaining little traction there.