Reality of the Surge Options

[Hellfighter]

My view;
A smartly run military campaign.
.... however McCain and other neocons are perhaps patting 'themselves' too early for supporting it;
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23382421

Firstly - the current 'Surge' was supposed to have ended six months ago.
The Surge's main- MAIN- purpose was not directly about killing off al quaeda, but to get the Iraqi government to finally act as one solid front - that has not succeeded -> their may be improvements in that goal, but it hasn't been accomplished-still.

Secondly the Surge was supposed to mean a reduction in troop strength to reduce the stress on the soldiers involved in excessive rotations. The neo-cons tend to assume soldiers are wind-up toys with energizer batteries in them rather than dedicated hman beings. Is it no wonder thre are so many soldiers returning from Iraq feeling disenfranchised by society and 'preferring' to live out of the norms of society once they get back and as we see in shameful large numbers in homeless conditions ['support the troops' was the hollow neocon mantra for the longest while. Now they're surprised why their flag-waving antics no longer work].
Troop numbers in Iraq are still very high.
Of course the argument that tactically a troop withdrawal would lead to a disaster. But get real. The Surge Generals know all is not hunky-dory just because territory is gained and all seems quiet for now regarding the Sunnis in the north and south, and the still potent Shiite militias held-back by a ceasefire agreement. Iran is quite. People are waiting in the wings. We tend in the West to view progress from our perspective -enemy quiet= enemy defeated. They're being 'clever' for lack of a better word. You can bet they are using this quiet time to plan their own surge when the time is right - US troops whether McCain or a Dem is in charge WILL be reduced when thins seem quiet enough -and that's when the enem/enemies will strike and launch their civil war.
There's no doubt also that al quaeda's 'ground force's are on the run - but their suicide bombers can still lurk anywhere in Iraq. All they need to do / and are doing is to keep maintaining 2 or 3 horrid suicide attacks a month to keep things destabilized there.
Note how the media over here now rarely mentions the suicide attacks in Iraq. They're in'Surge is working' mode. Just like they ignored Afghanistan has been in worse shape.

Finally why did the Surge 'work'. 'Awakening Alliance'- the Sunni private armies that are contesting al quaeda. The Surge is only progressing in terms of territory due to the Awakening Alliance 'watching the six' of the the Surge's tail. The amount of US troops freed up by this comfort in not having to leave considerable troops back to solidify gained ground is an impressive reason for the successes - not to mention al Sadr's militias being quiet in Baghdad -temporarily. Then another reason things are calmed - the ethnic cleansing of neighbourhoods by gangs of demons succeeded to the point where there were no more 'undesirables' left to kill - so it appeared they had been stopped when in fact they had themselves no reason to continue their mayhem.
So that are measuring success in Iraq from a tunnel-minded vision need to look at the bigger picture, and the reality in total the mainstream media are failing to let you know about - and in fact are misleading you about. It's not too difficult to find out how everything is currently balanced on the edge of a blade over there.

[Blitz]

I believe you are correct in changing their hearts and minds is the answer.
The only question is how?
In my opinion if you are an extremist form of government that treats women like subhumans, you indoctrinate you children to become marters, and live by the philosophy of jihad the entire world should shut you out and let you rot as a country.
The only problem is they have ONE single thing we are willing to trade for, oil!

The "west" has for far to long been poked with a stick by these tyrants because they have something we want. We should be rapidly looking to eliminate the need for their oil as an energy / national security policy.
It needs to be done in a way so that emerging countries like china will have access to the new technologies rather than just buying the oil from the terrorist states in the middle east.

Once you take away the one and only chip they have in the game, we can demand that if you want our help in becoming a 21st century nation we have a few "requests".

If we were a serious country that cared about national security we would demand that from our politicans!
http://www.votesmart.org/

The upside of Iraq, is that if in the long there is a pro democracy nation in the middle east, that allows all of the non-jihad loving forms of islam to practice their religon.
If it becomes a nation that can build wealth, technology, and the inferstructure to fit in with the modern world on other exports besides oil.
It could be a beacon for the people that are not free in their other countries to flee to, as well as to set the example that the west is not out on a "crusade" to destroy islam, just that we have no tolerance for the jihadist thugs and dictators running their countries.

A free and modern Iraq that trades with the world, grows as a power economically and has free people that prosper under it's own government would radically change the calculus in the middle east.