[QUOTE=davidbfpo;157427]Link:http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-fr...xm5MgY.twitter

David--the Brookings article is actually a solid primer especially agreeing in what I have been commenting on ---that the old Sunni insurgency side was never out of business ie IAI now JRTN and Ansar al Sunnah.

Agree the Anbar is worth watching ---but I am betting on Diyala being the next launch point as that was always the center of gravity for the entire insurgency from 2005 onwards-- but the US Army never recognized it nor did they ever recognize that Diyala was the R&E center for the insurgency as a whole as the families of many of the insurgents resided in Diyala province.

Especially the Diyala river valley areas.

A former SWJ Editor Mike Few made the Thunder Runs through that area and it was the scene of some of the heaviest face to face fighting seen up to that point. AQI/IAI did not back down even in the face of US armor.