What you are missing is the message, not the results. The killing of four Americans was not the purpose of the action, but a clear message about the planning, logistics, and operations capabilities of this type of asymmetrical action. My best guess is that this was performed by or under the direct supervision of Iranians, not a rag-tag bunch of insurgents.
One thing for sure...Whoever did this had resources, terrific intelligence and a lot of planning skills. Bunch of ways for this attack to go south on them but they covered all the bases. They had to get through at least three security checkpoints and get back out again.
I think the goal here is a wedge strategy. Make sure we don't trust Iraqi security forces and sow doubt and confusion in US ranks. Now every time a US soldier encounters a uniformed Iraqi he will have to wonder " Who is he REALLY working for?"
For what it's worth, I don't see anything sophisticated about it.
It simply proves to me that the Iraqis are not ready to take over.
I have been wondering about this, too. I can't believe they'd just want to show off, though, and blow the fact that they were capable of doing this simply to prove they could. For one thing, you know security is going to be one heck of a lot higher now, so they'd have a much harder time repeating the stunt.
One earlier article mentioned that a "low security" computer was taken when the men were killed (or kidnapped, as it seems now). I wonder if this computer or some other information was actually the objective of this. I hope it actually was "low security," btw, and was used for nothing but solitaire and somebody's off-time Freeping.