Some argue that the U.S. cannot afford to yield ground in Helmand taken by the Marines last year, before the current counterinsurgency approach was fully cooked.

Certainly the past U.S. military approaches since 2001-a concentration on counterterrorism raids initially, followed by a poorly resourced counterinsurgency approach that also made a dubious priority of rural Helmand Province-have not stanched the Taliban's revival.

It has raised soldiers' pay, removed some generals who had been kept on past mandatory retirement age, and toughened its counterinsurgency approach.

"From your basic recruit to commanders, he's calling for a refinement of the counterinsurgency approach," said one of the defense officials.

Many of the troops taking part in the search south of Baghdad are already stationed near here, spread out in an increasing number of checkpoints and outposts as part of the new American counterinsurgency approach.

The video documents the Iraq Surge as part of a population-centric counterinsurgency approach and features many of the top commanders and others responsible for its implementation - including Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.)