In the Big Book there is a recounting of Rowland H.'s visit to Carl Jung, Jung told him that, "Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences. To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them." What AA has done is essentially converted "here and there, once in a while" into everywhere, all of the time and in so doing has turned a "phenomena" into an everyday occurrence that has been experienced by millions.
I don't disagree with you one bit. I think his issue was people saying you can't possibly stop drinking without AA. I agree it is rare, but people have used other spiritual means of achieving the same thing. In the end, I don't think not drinking is the only issue. AA is about living, not just about abstaining from alcohol.