One would think this battle should have been fought 4 years ago but what do I know.
I think you had to have the government in place. Besides, the main reason for the wave of violence has been the civil war component,which has only come up the last year, not the insurgency component, as i understand it, please correct me if I'm wrong.
The insurgency, after being chased out of the countryside, has recently regrouped to Baghdad.
The 'Battle of Baghdad' is the the last throe of the insurgency.