U.S. and Insurgents Talking

From Newsweek. $Q: Two weeks ago, assassins killed Sheik Nassir Qarim al-Fahdawi, a prominent Anbar sheik described by other Sunnis as a chief negotiator for the insurgency. "He was killed for talking to the Americans," says Zedan al-Awad, another leading Anbar sheik. Al Qaeda, meanwhile, continues to gain territory in the Sunni heartland, according to al-Awad: "Let me tell you: Zarqawi is in total control of Anbar. The Americans control nothing." Meanwhile the administration has let a top Al Qaeda man go free with no explanation. The "you're with us or against us" John Wayne rhetoric works well to scare up votes, but the strategy is a miserable failure when mapped onto the real world. If nothing else, it's encouraging to see the President learning from his mistakes. But it's impossible to tell how effective the administration's change of tack will be given the usual shroud of secrecy covering their actions and motives.