Plans going awry
I am hearing a lot more lately about how big a problem having the Turkey approach closed off was. We were forced to bring huge amounts of troops and material clear around south, delaying everything further, and the north was left largely open. The northern areas turned out to be a major retreat for the enemy to dissipate into the Sunni Triangle. Also, the routes to Syria were not tightened up like they could have been.
I'm not saying everything would have been just swell if we had been able to fight on both fronts, but I think a lot of things would have been easier even now.
