Sully on Falluja

Andrew Sullivan seems to have had a brief encounter with reality.

FALLUJA FALLACIES: It isn't over. The worst part of the battle might still be to come:

Until late Thursday, resistance in Fallujah had been piecemeal, with individual rocket, mortar, and rifle teams making surprise attacks. US heavy artillery, tank guns, and airstrikes have waged steady barrages, paving the way for marine infantry advances.
US military leaders have deemed the effort in Fallujah so far as a success. In three days of fighting, coalition units have swept across more than half the city, sustaining relatively few casualties. But Thursday night, casualties appeared to mount. Coalition forces have been targeted from mosques. They have uncovered unarmed sleeper cells that they believe have been seeded throughout the city and primed to strike after the initial assault.

Meanwhile, Mosul goes up in flames. And guess who's wreaking havoc in Mosul? The same men who fled Falluja! The sad truth is that this insurgency cannot be subdued without a political solution that our early mis-steps made far, far more difficult. These grueling battles may be necessary, but they are really functions of our past failure than any guarantee of our future success.

Boy Sully, it's a real bitch that Rumsfeld turned your war into a real clusterf*ck isn't it?