Quote Originally Posted by Merv Benson
...I think he is ignoring substantial evidence that the enemy had delegitimized itself by attacking non combatants and ruling like the Taliban in areas it did control. As the story in the WaPo on Tal Afar shows US forces are adapting to defeat the enemy. The story leaves out the mayor's letter to McMaster and his earlier letter to Gen. Casey that demonstrate just how successful the US has been in defeating the insurgency in places like Tal Afar where the take and hold policy has been employed. Incidents around Ramadi also demonstrate how the enemy has alienated the Iraqis. In the hearts and minds war, the enemy has been the big loser and my reading of the article does not suggest the author comprehends that...
The "enemy" is not monolithic. A blanket statement such as the enemy had delegitimized itself are utterly false, because it only applies to certain factions within the insurgency we are fighting. Elements among the foreign jihadists fighting in Iraq have alienated sectors of the indig Sunni Arab population by some of their recent actions - that is absolutely true (the author does address that in the paper - although only to a limited degree). However, the indig Sunni insurgent groups are not affected and continue to fight on with the general support of their tribes and clans - despite our efforts to integrate Sunni Arabs into the government. In the big picture, we have yet to reach any sort of tipping point or seen any real decisive trend that indicates we are coming out on top of the insurgency. However, the insurgency itself is stagnant at the stragegic level; although tactically it continues to dynamically evolve and adapt. It is far to early to declare anyone the "big loser".