Sunni Political Participation in Iraq

[Strickland]

While on leave, I am doing my best to read the 30+ articles that I stacked on my desk in my "read" pile. In doing so, I have read much about the significance of the Sunni participation in the political process over the past 7 months. All the "smart-guys" seem to disagree as to whether this is a good sign or not. Cordesman asserts that Sunni political participation in no way indicates that they chose politics over violence, but rather, demonstrates their desire to follow the IRA model, which could complicate things considerably. Are Iraqi Rejectionists truly trying to "derail" the political process or simply using it as an alternative enabler/campaign? Is Sunni participation truly a metric of success for the coalition? Any thoughts?