Who Lost Anbar Province?

The Washington Post reports that Colonel Pete Devlin, the Marine Corps' chief of intelligence in Iraq, has provided the Pentagon with a depressing assessment of the situation in Anbar province:

Devlin reports that there are no functioning Iraqi government institutions in Anbar, leaving a vacuum that has been filled by the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has become the province's most significant political force, said the Army officer, who has read the report. Another person familiar with the report said it describes Anbar as beyond repair; a third said it concludes that the United States has lost in Anbar.

It has been 1,826 days since we were attacked. It has been 1,271 days wince we invaded Iraq and 1,229 days since President Bush declared an end to combat operations under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished." In contrast, World War II lasted 1,365 days, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to Japan's surrender on board the USS Missouri.
Five year after we were attacked, we read that al Qaeda is gaining ground and has become the preeminent political power in western Iraq. Imagine reading that Germany or Japan was gaining control of territory occupied by U.S. troops at a similar stage of WWII.