Peter Mansoor - How The Surge Worked - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/08/AR2008080802918.html

the "surge" was more than an infusion of reinforcements into Iraq. Of greater importance was the change in the way U.S. forces were employed starting in February 2007, when Gen. David Petraeus ordered them to position themselves with Iraqi forces out in neighborhoods. This repositioning was based on newly published counterinsurgency doctrine that emphasized the protection of the population and recognized that the only way to secure people is to live among them.