It sounds like US military officials are negotiating with certain elements of the Iraqi resistance over a timetable for the withdrawal of our troops. It sounds like a two part strategy. We placate one part of the resistance (the Iraqi "Nationalists" who are made up of former Ba'athist security and armed forces members)) and in the process, pit them against other elements (the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "Islamic Fundamentalists").
Some clips from
this article in the UK Independent
"American officials are talking to negotiators from the anti-US resistance in Iraq, whom they have denounced in the past as foreign fighters and remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Insurgent leaders and Pentagon officials have confirmed to Time magazine that talks have taken place for the first time in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.
The Sunni guerrillas want a timetable for a US withdrawal, first from Iraqi cities and then from the country as a whole. American officials aim to see if they can drive a wedge between nationalist guerrillas and fanatical Islamist groups."
...
"US military commanders are now dubious about the chances of winning an outright military victory over the Sunni rebels who have a firm core of supporters among the five million-strong Sunni Muslim community."
...
"The talks so far are tentative but they indicate a recognition on the part of the US that it will need a political solution. Those willing to sit down with US diplomats and officials are "nationalists" composed primarily of former military and security officers from Saddam's Hussein's government."
I'm not saying that this is a bad move. Au contraire. But it does represent a shift (or, yet another shift...) in both tactics and comprehending reality.
I wonder if Incurious George knows we are negotiating with "terrorists" again.