Sadly, the Baathists have been bolstered in this fantasy by Sunnis from outside Iraq. These are either those who are willing to fund a fight to the last Iraqi Sunni to preserve the Sunni monopoly on ruling in the Arab world; or by Sunnis who are willing to die for jihadi fantasies of an Islamic empire.
Either way, Iraq is being used as a battlefield by outside Sunnis for goals beyond that of who will control Iraq itself.
But behind the shield of American-led military power, the Iraqis led by the Shia and Kurds who comprise 80% of the population have organized a government legitimized by elections and a security force that is growing in strength and beginning to emerge from the American shield to fight the terrorists and insurgents.
As the Iraqi government grows in power, the Sunnis of Iraq are being compelled to face an uncomfortable fact. Namely, they are losing and the victors will not likely be kind to those who have fought to the death granting no quarter to even women and children in their zeal to bomb their way to power. As Strategypage states:
Sunni Arabs are becoming increasingly nervous about their ability to remain in Iraq. To frequently paranoid Sunni Arabs, it's already beginning. In western Iraq, the attacks against terrorist strongholds, in Sunni Arab areas, continue. The military pressure has been constant on the terrorists for most of the year.
The growing awareness of losing is making the Sunnis aware that the victors, after suffering so much under Saddam and since the fall of Baghdad, might not just shake hands and call it a day:
The terrorists are slowly learning there's a difference between terrorizing a group, and just making them so angry that they will do great damage, perhaps even wipe out, their tormenters. To the Sunni Arab neighbors of Iraq, this has always been the ultimate nightmare. In the past, it never seemed possible that the Sunni Arab population would be driven from Iraq. But now, because of the Sunni Arab terrorism in Iraq, the "religious cleansing" of Iraq is becoming a possibility. For that reason, more and more Sunni Arab leaders, and even terrorist groups, are making peace with the government.
Making peace and stopping fighting is not enough to save the Iraqi Sunnis from retribution and absolute subjugation by the winners at this point. To save themselves, the Sunnis have to join the fight against the terrorists who won't stop resisting:
But this arrangement demands that the Sunni Arabs become active in fighting the terrorists. Many Sunni Arab leaders are reluctant to do this, for the terrorists have long gone after leaders who turn against them. Some are attacked or killed every month. However, while the terrorist groups may be reckless, many Sunni Arab leaders clearly see the patience of the Shia Arab majority growing shorter. Cleansing Iraq of Sunnis becomes more of a reality the longer the terrorists continue their attacks. You can see this happening already, as Sunni and Shia Arabs separate from villages and neighborhoods where they have long lived together, for safety from terrorist attack.
The Sunnis have a way out, I think, from their self-inflicted problem.
The Sunni Baathists can still join a "national resistance" with the Shias and Kurds against the foreign jihadis who have invaded Iraq. These terrorists have angered the majority already with their brutality. And they will continue fighting until killed even when the Sunnis of Iraq call it quits. By joining the fight that will still rage against foreign thugs who everyone can agree to hate, the Sunnis may repair some of the damage the Sunnis inflicted on themselves already.
The alternative to enthusiastically joining the government to protect Iraq could be pretty ugly.
I've been amazed at the stupidity of the Sunnis of Iraq in failing to see they cannot win a fight for Iraq. Their only choice is how brutal the Iraqi Shias and Kurds need to be in order to win.
Will the Sunnis choose sanity in time to save themselves?
