Can we win in Iraq?

A couple of weeks ago, in a comment over at ShrinkWrapped, I made the offer to try to explain what our strategy was in the GWOT, whether or not it was realistic, and whether or not it was working. The central question of course is can we fight this war as we currently are and win it, or are we facing the prospect of a large and extremely bloody general war with, perhaps, Islam itself? A war that most would argue we are ill-prepared as a culture to fight, much less to win.

ShrinkWrapped himself took me up on the offer and although I took me about a week and over 11,000 words to frame my answer, I have done so. I’m sending it to him and if he finds it worthy, I’ll be posting all or part in his blog. I don’t have to worry about worthiness, so I’m going to all of it here in bits. If it gets shredded by insightful comments, here or over there, I will learn something, and I’ll adjust my thinking and conclusion accordingly. Right now I’m having the whole mess proofread. So check back in a couple of days, if you’re interested in what I have to say.