( CNN ) -- On the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq , with nearly 4,000 American lives lost , is Iraq really on a path to peace ? Three factors are often cited in explaining the improvement in security : the U.S. troop surge , the political `` awakening '' of the Iraqi people , and the cease fire ordered by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr . But some say a controversial fourth dynamic is at play as well -- cash , being doled out by the barrelful . It 's a truth many hold to be self-evident that more American troops translate into less Iraqi violence . As President Bush said in January 's State of the Union speech , `` Some may deny the surge is working , but among the terrorists there is no doubt . '' But some military experts do have doubts , arguing there 's actually a mightier force at work -- hundreds of millions in cash given to Iraqis , for everything from picking up garbage to taking up arms against al Qaeda . Watch Bush discuss the troop surge » . Retired Army Col. Doug Macgregor , a longtime critic of top Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus , said it 's a `` cash-for-peace '' scheme that is bound to backfire . Watch CNN 's Kyra Phillips interview with Gen. Petraeus » . `` Normally when you begin paying off your enemy on the scale that we are , it is seen by your enemy as well as others as a tacit admission of failure , not of success , '' Macgregor said . It 's hard to pin down exactly how many millions are going to former insurgents to switch sides , but Macgregor argues the result is artificial progress . `` What we 've done is we 've also flooded the Sunni-Arab insurgents with cash to create a temporary cease-fire to reduce the numbers of U.S. casualties , '' he said . Gen. Petraeus ' former deputy commander bristles at the suggestion that the U.S. is bribing bad guys to back off . `` That is such a simplified look at it . It 's much more complex than that . I believe it to be the right thing to do . It 's about reconciling them with the rest of the government of Iraq . It 's a confidence-building measure in reconciling them with Iraq , '' Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno told CNN . Former Defense Secretary William Cohen is concerned that direct payment is not `` particularly savory , '' but concedes it may be necessary `` to buy the support of people who otherwise would be a raid against you . '' `` Is that helping to turn the tide ? If it 's only a question of a tactical distribution of money for a short period of time , then it wo n't stand up , and it will be reversed the moment we leave , '' Cohen said . But U.S. commanders on the front lines insist anger , not greed , is what 's behind he so-called `` awakening , '' and has given rise to grass-root groups called * '' Concerned Local Citizens '' and `` Sons of Iraq . '' Watch Bush 's remarks on the fifth anniversary of the war » . `` When we first started these programs , these guys were n't getting paid a dime , '' said Col. John Charlton , 1st Brigade Commander with the 3rd Infantry Division . `` We did n't advertise , you know , 'Join the police force , and we 'll give you money . ' These guys lined up by the hundreds because they were sick and tired of what al Qaeda was doing to their communities , and they knew that they had to stand up and fight . '' So that happens when the money dries up ? Critics , Macgregor among them , predict a quick return to civil war . `` We have to understand that this expedient policy of paying your enemy is very dangerous . It 's fragile , and eventually , hatred of the foreign occupier overwhelms greed , '' he said . E-mail to a friend .
Fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq commemorated Wednesday . U.S. money given to former insurgents is cited as force in Iraq 's improvement . Retired Army Col. Doug Macgregor says it 's a `` cash-for-peace '' scheme . Critics predict a quick return to civil war when the money dries up .