ONE DOWN, ONE TO GO

Daniel Drezner writes that the impending defeat of Ansar al-Islam in northern Iraq isn't getting enough attention. He's right--killing off Ansar kills off one more branch of al-Qaeda, weakens Saddam's efforts to strike back at us through terrorism, and strengthens the pro-American Kurdish elements in Iraq's north. Message: Side with US, get help. Oppose US, get killed.

One other aspect of the northern Iraq campaign that hasn't gotten much play is the type of war we're fighting up there. The war in Iraq is essentially two different wars, being fought in two distinct ways. In the southern march to Baghdad, our troops are fighting a classic (though speedy) invade-and-march war, inserting lots of boots and armor, covering them from the air and using extended air power to take out the enemy's rear guard and entrenchments. The war in the north is very different. Thus far it's been a special operator/airborne infantry combined with indigenous forces kind of war, with air power used to target camps and positions the enemy is defending and using to stage forays and terror strikes. In short, it's a lot like the campaign in Afghanistan, circa Oct-Nov 2001.

So to those who say we can't fight al-Qaeda terrorists and nation-states at the same time, Iraq proves otherwise. We can, and are, in different areas of the same country.