While I believe the French army won the Battle of Algiers, the political will to accept that victory had the effect of making the whole effort a waste. What was taken tactically and practically from that engagement, was use and proved by Petraeus in Mosul in 2004 and 2005, and was loosely chronicled by Michael Yon. That was before the Autumn of 2005 when the marines in Al Anbar began to work with a Sheik whose people had enough of Al Qaeda and the especially sick Baathist pukes whose sadism was exalted under Saddam.

But included in the good work the ground work being done was the building of the Iraqi Army from scratch that included officers that could lead not intimidate, and an NCO corp that mirrored our own and were not just a caricature of a bunch of mule skinners. Change in the institution that retained all the residue of Saddam’s phobias was not an easy thing to accomplish. The pride of an Iraqi soldier in his unit, and the patriotism of individual soldiers toward a nation that is worth their sweat and sacrifice are as much a part of the picture as the coordination of human intel with the “Hand of Allah”, may it always find its mark.

There is so much ground work that was involved over a large stretch of time. I think it is important to note that not only do most American’s not believe MSM tools, but most Iraqi’s don’t either. Without their cooperation not any of the progress seen since the surge began would have been possible.