Did you by any chance check out the documentary my company edited?
The current strategy involves implanting our forces directly into the population, setting up neighborhood bases instead of remote fire bases, dealing directly with the communities, and other methods of bringing the population on to the right team. There are a lot more details to this, but suffice it to say we aren't running the war like we were in 2006.
These are all strategies that were being used in 2004. If they are more effective now it's because of one reason: The Surge has allowed more forces to connect with, and protect, the citizens. Had the surge been done 4 years ago this war might have been over and thousands of dead Americans would still be alive. But Bush and Rumsfeld were too arrogant to admit they were wrong about troop levels for 4 years.