LyrArc Article Gist
The story from the side of an Shiite Iraqi Brigade commander who served in the Hussain army in the Iran-Iraq war, that shows how the Americans under General Petraeus persevered and won with a new counterinsurgency strategy of clearing an area of militants and then carrying out humnanitarian projects by living in the same areas where the militants lived so to speak spread out among the people, This has worked in the insurgency areas around Ramadi and also in the Mahdi areas in Basra and gives the Iraqi army the confidence to bring safety and law and order to Iraq. The perseverance of the Americans and corrective actions like in this case letting former Iraqi army soldiers enlist and work in the new Iraqi army and letting some of them rebuild their brigades as is the case with Al-Azawi. Gaining the confidence and support of tribal leaders has been another element of this strategy as well as getting some of the insurgents on the American payroll under the Awakening groups. And quite a lot of credit goes to Petraeus for leading this effort against the odds and using unconventional methods that helped get the job done and bring some sense of safety throughout Iraq in an unbelievable turnabout of events.