The Shiite ethnic cleansing has worked. A couple of years ago the Baghdad morgue reported that most of the bodies being delivered were young Sunni men. There are only so many of them and when enough were killed and their families driven out of mixed neighborhoods the result was obvious: less violence. Not illegal occupiers masquerading as young American sandbags itching to be blown up by an IED while they delude themselves about benevolent intentions and honor or duty.

Paying off the Sunni resistance worked. The Awakening Council’s are largely made up of the Sunni resistance. These are the same ones who – along with their families – were being systematically wiped out of their neighborhoods and quickly realized that they couldn’t win against a US-backed army and didn’t align with Al Qaeda. So they took reprieve with our blood money and even though that is coming to an end, the result was successful. Not the “surge” of young American men who don’t get how their following of unlawful orders (i.e. the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) is a clear violation of the oath they took before they went to boot camp.

Al-Sadr’s laying low worked. The Mahdi Army accepted Iran’s offer to back off and let the US defeat themselves by propping up a pro-Iranian government. True, maybe al-Sadr won’t be the leader of Iraq since he is not appealing to the mass resentment against the illegal occupation but his putting the safety on his army has worked. Not illegal occupiers from the US.