The enemy in Iraq is not trying to get the population to like him. He is trying to get compliance through fear and intimidation. Polling demonstrates that the enemy has lost the hearts and minds battle, yet he still persist.

To defeat him we still have to find him and destroy his ability to make war. The combined arms approach presents him with dilemmas that make his defeat most likely. That is the approach that has been the most successful over time. However, what remains of Yugoslavia was essentially defeated by a NATO air campaign, which included on a minor threat of a boots on the ground campaign.

Ultimately, not only combined arms, but a combination of other operations are needed. You need to cut through the intimidation efforts and get the cooperation of the people to get intelligence on the enemy. You need a high force to space ratio in the enemy's area of operation to cut off his ability to move to contact. You have to deny sanctuaries to keep him in motion where he is more vulnerable to being killed or captured at a check point or by a patrol. It requires political and kinetic components. The political portion also needs to focus not just on the Iraqis but on support for the war at home. That has been the primary target of enemy propaganda and attacks in Iraq, and the US has no one in charge of responding to this propaganda campaign.