Interesting split in Iraq resistance.
Reports are confirmed that Baathist indigenous Iraqi nationalists have traded fire with foreign fighter resistance units (most likely linked to Al Qaeda). (*) The Baathists are said to dislike Al Qaeda’s targeting of civilians.
Now is the time for the Iraqi government and the Coalition to up the ante and offer the Baathists a deal. Let them come into the system as politically legitimate as long as they drop all insurgent activity and cooperate with securing Iraq. This would be a bitter pill to swallow for both sides, but in the long-run, it will be easier to hold the Baathists accountable at the ballot box then elsewhere. This would prop up badly-needed Sunni suppot for the new government. It will also isolate Zarqawi and Al Qaeda further.
This may be a propitious moment. It would seem that the time is ripe to be bold.