I say it with certainty because it is a fact. Some, but not all, alcoholics need to stop drinking entirely. The AA lines are simply untrue, there are no scientific studies that support their methods (in fact, every study ever done shows the opposite, including AA's own study that is referenced in the Big Book, but even that is over 50 years old, and excluded the answers of women because they didn't match the mens').
Grinders, to answer your other questions, I simply believe that is more individual (best decided with your doctor and therapist, not a bunch of drunks at a meeting or an "addiction counselor" who has no college degree), and creating the false dichotomy of A. abstinence OR B. relapse and die, does only a disservice to most people who have a drinking problem.
I do not mean to say that there are not people who are helped by AA. The more important point is that AA is no more effective than placebo, and many people overdose and die because of AA/NA's teachings about abstinence and relapse (causing people to go on a binge, rather than ever try to use safely).
I highly recommend everyone read these articles by The Atlantic. They're quite long but do an excellent job of explaining the objective issues with AA.
http://www.theatlantic.com/features...irrationality-of-alcoholics-anonymous/386255/
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/the-surprising-failures-of-12-steps/284616/