A pithy commentary by John Schindler of the US strategy and approach to countering Daesh / ISIS. Try this:
To be blunt, we kill very effectively but we have precious little understanding of how to transform Muslim societies by force.
Link:http://20committee.com/2014/11/14/wh...te-is-winning/

Here are some tasters:
The U.S. military is quite capable of defeating almost any adversary on the battlefield, even Da’ish, though that is not the same thing as producing lasting political outcomes that Americans will like. This is particularly true in the Greater Middle East, where the politico-cultural barriers to Westernization delivered by the barrel of a gun are steep and strong.

It is now time, indeed long overdue, to dispense with magical thinking about what the application of American military power might achieve in any lasting strategic or political sense in the Middle East.
I'd forgotten the Italian pacification of Libya (1928-1932):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacification_of_Libya

Which today is not an option for the USA or its allies.

Yes there is a thread 'Watching ISIS' into which this will be merged one day. It is worth a thread to alert readers and perhaps respond.

Finally:
A necessary first step is having a genuine debate about what our military can — and cannot — achieve in Iraq and Syria.