Not a bad article, actually. But I think it is time for the US airlines (and especially American) to smell the coffee with cardamom.
Trying to fight the ME3 (and Turkish) is going to be a pointless exercise, doomed to fail. I think AA should simple accept QR (and ditch Gulf Air which has lost the battle anyway) and together with BA,IB and AY include QR in the transatlantic JV. In that way they will have a much stronger position against others - be they Star, Skyteam, Norwegian or Emirates.