But, “we know that, like any boxer, they can come back up off that canvas and lend a big, right-hand punch.” That from an interview General Petraeus gave to Foreign Policy, which can be found here. I think the key point is made here:
Petraeus talks about the dramatic decline in violence, which is really the only metric that can be used to gauge the effectiveness of Coalition efforts. There’s little U.S. forces can do to spur political reconciliation at the national level, they can only create the conditions that will allow for such reconciliation. And they have done so. Now that part is up to the Iraqis themselves. But turning the people of Anbar against al Qaeda–that is clearly a success. It’s like asking if turning Italy against the Axis was a failure or a success. The result speaks for itself. Anytime you turn an enemy into an ally, you’re doing something right.
