The letter is remarkable for reversing the perceptions that are normally assigned by conventional wisdom to the US military and the Sunni insurgency. It is Zarqawi who is upbraided for losing the "hearts and minds" of Iraqis; it is Zarqawi who is criticized for not reaching out Iraqi allies. It is Zarqawi who is blamed for plunging al-Qaeda into "weakness" in Iraq.
This enemy failure was evident more than two years ago. And I've written repeatedly that we fail to see how our enemies are being crippled while we see every real and imaginary failing on our side and amplify them into defeat. It is worthwhile to repeat what Kipling wrote:
It would be sheer folly to panic and run when our enemies are being destroyed every day. They will break. If we don't. That thought keeps them going, of course.Man cannot tell but Allah knows
How much the other side is hurt.
Wretchard also writes that the threat to victory inside Iraq is increasingly the Shias of Sadr rather than Sunnis (either domestic or imported). This is something I've written about for a while, too. The major threat from the Shias, of course, is that Iran can exploit their hand puppet Sadr to wreck the still forming Iraqi government.
The other side is hurt, people. It shouldn't take a prophet to tell you that.
UPDATE: Read Austin Bay's take on the hidden enemy failures and doubts. Our fears and doubts are so loudly and frequently raised that the near silence from the enemy side is taken as proof they have no failures or doubts.
