Let's not get carried away here - the jihadis are just waiting for enough people to blame themselves for the violence, so it doesn't appear to be their fault.
This is a good place to emphasize individual responsibility, not the government failing.
While the U.S. may have done more to stop violence, what ought to be discredited by the huge death toll is the pervasive notion of fighting "occupation", which is what fueled early violence and non-cooperation. Occupation today is not what it was back at the time of the Prophet. Fighting occupation as a wholesale injunction or religious duty needs very much to be rebuked.
As with much in the other issues in the region, MUCH of the clear fault lies with rejectionist attitudes.
To be sure, there is plenty of worry to go around about how quickly things were done and what was left undone. But, the central truth about the number of Iraqi dead are the attitudes that lead those to believe that violence was the solution to 'the problem' du jour (excepting that portion which was due to just plain criminality, like thievery).
sullylink
