SWJ friend Herschel Smith on Major General John Kelly and USMC COIN efforts in Iraq at The Captain's Journal.

... We have observed before that it is the responsibility of the people and government of Iraq to progress on reconciliation, and that the Marines can help only marginally in this endeavor and certainly don’t belong in the middle of internecine struggles at this point in the counterinsurgency and reconstruction effort.

... Rather than being in the middle of internecine struggles, the Marines have led by example. This is counterinsurgency at its very best, and represents the closing of an era in Anbar. It’s the final phase of the campaign, and while troops will remain in Iraq for some time to help ensure border sovereignty, proper training of Iraqi Security Forces and robust actions against remaining hard core al Qaeda in Iraq fighters, General Kelly has every reason to be proud of his Marines and his own effort.