Obama: 'Let me see here....I know...I'll make my cabinet up of people who authorized the wars and then take no responsibility.' Way to go.

The whole surge strategy was taken as a strategic success by the last administration, but what really caused a de-escalation of violence for a short period of time was the fact that we began bribing insurgent tribes to put down their arms. The surge was only moderately successful in securing short term tactical gains.

It took us a long time to realize that the real seat of power in Iraq are the tribal groups. When the power structure in Iraq broke down after Saddam Hussein fell, they became even more powerful. They became an informal government, usually acting over the heads of the Iraqi government, which really derived its authority from the US. That's really what motivated the political instability over there, and still does to an extent.

Obama's strategy for pulling US troops out of Iraq is disingenuous and cynical in my view. He's replacing US troops with private contractors, essentially mercenaries. The strategy increases the cost of the war, yet the administration gets the credit for pulling us out, all while maintaining large bases in the country.

Saying the logic behind the surge was flawed, is easy.  Proposing what would have worked better, especially when the surge has succeeded "beyond our wildest dreams" means, maybe you shouldn't rely on your wildest dreams to implement military policy.  Maybe you should rely on experts who know something from experience.