Succeeding in any war is not just about meeting your objectives, but making sure the other guy doesn't meet his. So, how is al-Zarqawi doing with his to-do list? The answer: not very good. See Dan Senor's op-ed piece the WSJ. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111992212536871201,00.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Why don't you ask him? I heard he is under the weather at this point in time. He might even be under the grass at this point in time.
This is so retarded that I feel bad for retards. First off - if participation by Sunnis is getting better - then good. Politics is always better than violence, even if Karl Rove deserves some 'hard knuckle politics - hold the politics' sometimes. But really - do we judge our success if al-Zarqawi's does not meet his objectives? Oooh - that's raising the bar real high. Civil war - too early to tell. The fuel is there. No spark has taken hold yet, but neither has the fuel been removed. That will take years. And besides - shall we judge Britain's success by whether the IRA met its objectives? Is Ireland United? No. therefore, mission accomplished? tell that to people killed every year by the IRA or unionist paramilitary groups. Did the islamic insurgents in Afghanistan meet their objectives after year 1,2,3, or 4? Or did they stick to a low-intensity conflict and finally control the country when the soviets pulled out?
This interests me far less than how the Sunni insurgents are doing meeting their objectives. And I stopped reading here. Dan Senor?? WSJ???? Please.
I'd say the whole objective thing is something of a push at this point. Has Al Zarqawi chased us out of the country or started a civil war? No. Has he (or at least his insurgency) survived to create terror, and prevent a much greater level of success for the US and the new Iraqi government? Absolutely. Ask your self this. If at the "mission accomplished" speech, if you and Al Zarqawi were standing on the deck of the carrier listening to the Shrub, and someone told you that two years on, there would be an insurgency causing us to lose a battallion a month and kill thousands of iraqis; that the Iraqi secuity forces would be a major target, and that as a result they had not developed in a way to take over security in any meaningful way; that there would be an election and a new government in place and that several large pockets of the country would be relatively peaceful, who would be more pleased with the current state? He has also met the objective of keeping us occupied in a way that has helped other Al Quaeda leaders avoid capture.