At the onset of the WoT, the US faced an almost insurmountable problem. The enemy were dispersed in a dozen countries, indistinguishable from civilians, and not in violation of local laws. Their best and brightest would gather the resources they needed to travel, get training, and move to their target country, to plan and carry out acts of terrorism.
With the invasion of Afghanistan, we soon learned that the enemy was concentrating in Pakistan, from where they would travel to Afghanistan. And while this created a similar problem to Vietnam, that is, then enemy acting from bases in Laos and Cambodia, but it also presented an opportunity.
Why not intentionally use Iraq, a far more desirable terrorist destination, as a “roach motel”, where the enemy would concentrate to fight our soldiers, instead of fomenting civil war at home, or traveling to western nations to commit terrorist acts against our civilians?
From hither and yon, the finest of al-Qaeda’s recruits came streaming into Iraq, into many situations that could easily be described as “death traps”.
For example, our large but isolated bases were surrounded by kill zones of perhaps five miles depth. Usually, on entry from Syria, the bold new recruits would make a beeline for the first US base they could find, and disappear, never to be heard from again.
This technique was enlarged upon, so that prior to major battles, such as Fallujah, terrorists would stream into the city, thinking it a safe harbor, from which their Caliphate would grow. In turn, much planning insured a similar result, with very high enemy casualties.
Importantly, once al-Qaeda’s best and brightest were eliminated, those that remained had far less chutzpah. That is, they didn’t have enough fortitude to leave their neighborhood and country in search of training, then travel to a foreign nation to commit terrorist acts.
Ironically, by their sheer vicious brutality against Iraqis, al-Qaeda did much to put itself out of business. The Iraqis soon hated the “Arabs”, in this case meaning foreigners, and eventually took up arms against them, unmercifully.
But the end result is that the effectiveness of al-Qaeda was terribly diminished by Iraq, and their considerable losses there did much to neutralize their ongoing threat. And while this reduction continues unabated in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iraq should be given full and fair credit for its part in the overall War on Terror.
Good job.