By now the improvement in conditions in Iraq is undeniable. But opponents of the surge are still loath to give credit where it’s due. Too often we hear that the “surge” was just one factor among many–and not necessarily the most important–in the improving security situation. Other factors are often cited, including the Sunni Awakening, the growing size and effectiveness of the Iraqi Security Forces, and Moqtada al Sadr’s retreat. Those other developments are real and important, but they would not have been game-changers were it not for the additional influx of American soldiers and a change of strategy in how they were employed.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Read this important article in Sunday’s Washington Post by one of the architects of the surge-PeteMansoor, who as an army colonel served as General Petraeus’s executive officer (i.e., right-hand man) up until his retirement this summer.

For more of Mansoor’s first-hand perspective, check out his invaluable new memoir: “Baghdad at Sunrise: A Brigade Commander’s War in Iraq”.