Suspected al Qaeda militants, their hands cuffed and wearing blindfold, are guarded by a soldier at the American combat outpost near Checkpoint 20. By Benjamin Lowry, NYT

Just a quick post to link to two pieces (no time for commentary) I found interesting:

Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt, by Dave Kilcullen at Small Wars Journal
 
(hat tip: American Thinker)

and

Former Insurgent Counterinsurgency from the NYTimes

(hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

They are long, but I think worth the read. I posted this before, from USA Today, regarding the Pentagon study that suggests insurgencies, historically, usually fail after 10 years.

Faisal Faleh, lying down, a former Iraqi insurgent who joined forces with the U.S. and Iraqi troops to fight al-Qaida, gets medical treatment from the U.S. soldiers of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)