The jihadis need Sunni Arab support--even fearful unwilling support. So, unable to keep their hearts and minds, the jihadis will settle for scaring the Sunni Arabs with terror that keeps the Sunni Arabs from helping the government:
Al-Qaida in Iraq branded the country's Sunni vice president a "criminal" for participating in the U.S.-backed government, and a suicide bomber Saturday struck army recruits west of Baghdad, killing at least 15 people in another warning to Sunnis not to cooperate with the Shiite leadership.
With more need to kill those who were once their backers just to hold their ranks in line, the enemy will have less to aim at us or the Iraqi government's main Shia and Kurd backers.
And as long as we pursue the jihadis and kill them, the Sunni Arabs will have both the anger and security to keep moving toward supporting the government. Sunni Arabs, Shias, and Kurds will have a common jihadi enemy to fight.
I spotted this trend back in the summer of 2004. However, I horribly underestimated how long it would take the Sunni Arabs to appreciate their opportunity from this huge error by the Baathists desperate to regain power.
The enemy is losing. Don't surrender to them. Among other things, it would be highly embarassing.
