How is This Possible?

Remember when the anti-war left denied that we were fighting al Qaeda in Iraq?

And remember when they finally admitted al Qaeda was there, but said that it was our presence in Iraq that inspired jihadis to travel to Iraq to fight us there?

And remember how we left Iraq in 2011 with al Qaeda shattered after their fight with us there in the 2007 surge that targeted al Qaeda?

Now note that al Qaeda is resurgent in Iraq and occupying the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

For the so-called "reality-based" community, this can't make much sense.

I'd say that this sequence must be confusing to the anti-war left, but they aren't paying attention to Iraq now. They're too busy trying to lose the formerly good war in Afghanistan.