Iraq's Sunni Arabs, once one of the most supportive communities of Al Qaeda, are now among the most hostile, repudiating their alliance of convenience with the terrorists and risking their lives to fight with us against our worst enemies. This is a trend worth fighting to continue, and Iraqis who now stand with us at their own peril are people worth fighting for.
This is a true rose-colored glasses POV. Don't misunderstand me, Al Qa'ida in Iraq driving indig Sunni over to our side is a very good thing - in general terms. This has been discussed before on the board.

But keep in my mind that for them, this is also an "alliance of convenience" - and temporary. This doesn't translate into love for the Shi'a or for the coalition in broad terms. They are simply exploiting us to aid them in ridding themselves of a particularly virulent parasite.

However, this can be massaged into a long-term strategic benefit for us, if handled with care. But we can't do it by ourselves - once again, we need the indig Shi'a to take significant positive measures that will reinforce Sunni integration into the new Iraq. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon. The Shi'a political groups in Iraq are beset by infighting, and as they fragment there is no chance of any substantive movement in this direction.

So, if substantive measures aren't taken, then this will end up being no more than a temporary alliance to kick out one set of foreign SOBs. And the indig Sunni will most likely exploit this opportunity to enhance their capabilities to renew the offensive against us once they've driven Al Qa'ida out of their territory. This is not to say that they are exactly passively sitting around right now....