Well thought out and expressed. I'd like to comment on your conclusion that the surge is working.

The surge IS working to the extent that the presence of more military folks can control the civilian population better than the presence of fewer folks. And that's what's happening. And as you say, the more folks the better it would be. And the surge is keeping out other military or paramilitary forces.

Since the solution isn't a military solution, however, the increased military presence is not leading Iraq or the US closer to "victory". In spite of the improvement in the military situation due to the surge, the political situation continues to deteriorate. It's obvious that if al-Maliki's government could effect a political settlement it would have done so already.

And, as you suggest, the US cannot maintain this level of military activity for long without acquiring more resources. I doubt that will be allowed to happen. That could have happened at the start of the war, not after 4 1/2 years of mucking around.

And you're correct. The US is stuck. It cannot leave the country to the vultures, it cannot stay. And the country cannot operate on it's own - the brain drain has left it without the intellectual infrastructure needed to operate in the Middle Eastern environment. It's now an impoverished country, it's resources doing in no good, with Western corporate vultures waiting to chew away at the carcass.

Longer term, the US military is succeeding only at keeping the Eastern vultures away.

Arf