re: #282 ShaunP

Disagree. The formula that was successful was clearing an area and FUNDING local troops to keep the peace:

[Link: online.wsj.com…]

Funding didn’t accomplish squat for years, you can’t turn a screwed up civilian population into an effective fighting force in a short period of time, it takes year. In the meantime it was the US military that was keeping the peace. In the early years the troops would go in, clear, and then move on which allowed the bad guys the opportunity to start the cycle all over again. It only settled down once the strategy shifted to keeping troops in a cleared area. The extra troops in the surge certainly helped but it was a basic change in strategy that won the war.