The Surge

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122186492076758643.html?mod=article-outset-box

I wish he went more into the reasons as to why the Surge worked. My explanation, a year ago, was that the Sunnis suddenly found themselves in a critical position against the Shias so they decided to side with their american foes. Not all of the Sunnis, but definitelly the "tribal councils".

Perhaps even greater than the effect of the 30,000 odd thousand supplemental troops, the surge offered the assurance that the americans would be reliable partners in the Sunni's eye. (EDIT: I speak of the Sunni as we spoke of "Jerries", or "the frank" in the past. It is almost a Zeitgeist, or at least, a stereotypicality. This is perhaps a venue for attacking my story - like Berkeley did about the "abstract ideas" of Sir Mr. John Locke. But I would counter that these abstract ideas - the zeitgeist, are verifiable in actions - in actual instances. We would seethe tribal councillors seek out relations with the american commander in their area.)

See my series of posts a year ago. There is no question however that Petraeus is an outstanding hero with a gleaming aura of victory around him. He has caught my attention since I met him in my intellectual sphere back in March 2003, when he was interviewed by some newspaper as the leader of the 101st in Iraq.

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