Sunnis in Iraq:
Tentative Alliance with U.S.
-Ann Scott Tyson
[A] Sunni insurgent leader explained why he stopped attacking Americans: "Finally, we decided to cooperate with American forces and kick al-Qaeda out and have our own country." Abu Lwat is one of a growing number of Sunni fighters working with U.S. forces.
The tentative cooperation is driven as much by political aspirations as by a rejection of the brutal methods of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, U.S. officers and one-time insurgents said. "This is much less about al-Qaeda overstepping than about them [Sunnis] realizing that they've lost," said Lt. Col. Douglas Ollivant.
As a result, Sunni groups are now "desperately trying to cut deals with us," he said. "This is all about the Sunnis' 'rightful' place to rule" in a future Iraqi government, he said.
(Washington Post)
Tentative Alliance with U.S.
-Ann Scott Tyson
[A] Sunni insurgent leader explained why he stopped attacking Americans: "Finally, we decided to cooperate with American forces and kick al-Qaeda out and have our own country." Abu Lwat is one of a growing number of Sunni fighters working with U.S. forces.
The tentative cooperation is driven as much by political aspirations as by a rejection of the brutal methods of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, U.S. officers and one-time insurgents said. "This is much less about al-Qaeda overstepping than about them [Sunnis] realizing that they've lost," said Lt. Col. Douglas Ollivant.
As a result, Sunni groups are now "desperately trying to cut deals with us," he said. "This is all about the Sunnis' 'rightful' place to rule" in a future Iraqi government, he said.
(Washington Post)
3 comments:
The answer is...no. This is, as described, Sunni desperation. The Shiites seem perfectly willing to live along with the Sunni, as long as they never again hold any power. The Sunni now would like a coalition government because they fear they grow irrelevant. The Shiites intend on fostering that irrelevancy, so i do not see a pretty ending in the near future.
What's so bad about Sunni desperation?
Having real stability in the MidEast may depend on such successful governments.
The question was could Iraq turn? A desperate minority that feared being hunted down and exterminated after the fall of Hussein, and was experiencing this to a small degree, is hardly the stuff of coalition governments and prosperous futures. Elections didn't end the turmoil, and I just don't think this will either.
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