As sovereignty passes more and more to the Iraqis in concrete terms, it will be easier for the non-Baathist Sunnis to join other Iraqis to kill and expel the foreign invaders--the Islamists--and subdue the Baathists who aid the foreign invaders.
Well, with a successful election making it clear that Iraqis want a new Iraq to succeed, sovereignty is clearer every day. Iraqi security forces going after the insurgents put steel behind the votes.
Via Powerline blog (how did I miss this?) there is talk of negotiations with some Sunnis:
Iraqi insurgent leaders not aligned with al Qaeda ally Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi told the magazine several nationalist groups composed of what the Pentagon calls "former regime elements" have become open to negotiating.
Some Iraqis aren't keen on negotiating with Baathist killers, but ending the fighting is the goal. Yes, guilty Baathists will need to be tried and punished; but there is nothing wrong with trying to turn the Baathists out there who are building car bombs. This couldn't be a plain amnesty. The Baathist FREs who want to join the new Iraq need to turn on their current allies and join the fight enthusiastically and effectively against the jihadis and against the Baathists that won't end their resistance. Failure to do so would end the deal.
Nor should Sunnis put into important security positions in the new Iraq. A generation may need to pass before the Sunnis can be trusted as the Baathists who held power age.
In addition, we can't let up on offensive action while we talk. No ceasefires. They need to have a choice: die fighting or live peacefully. So we stay on offense.
But the Baathists can switch sides fully and get a role making sure that the new constitution protects minority rights (I know they confuse that with the right of the minority to kill and loot the majority, so they have some learning to do).
In a war, somebody breaks eventually. Our enemies are looking shaky.
