Let's return again to that BBC/ABC poll of Iraqis. This morning, Atrios links to an exchange between Michael Ware and Anderson Cooper on what's happening in al Anbar province. Ware explains in a pretty straightforward way what we've been hearing from a lot of other sources. The Sunni tribes are 'allying' with us because they think and the Maliki government thinks we're arming and supporting them as a counterweight to the central government. The Sunni insurgency has not only been against foreign (American) occupation but against domination by a majority Shia central government. So if we're working with these Sunni tribes on the second count, perhaps that is the basis of their tactical alliance with us -- not fighting al Qaeda.

In any case, back to those numbers from that poll.

What jumps out is overwhelming, even unanimous Sunni support for some key positions.

First, overall 57% of Iraqis think attacks on US troops are acceptable. 92% of Sunnis believe that.

Second, 62% of Iraqis support a unitary, as opposed to a decentralized state. But 97% of Sunnis believe that.

Third, 33% of Iraqis support the Maliki government. (Not great, but about Bush levels.) But only 2% of Sunnis support the Maliki government. 98% oppose it.

I'd like to hear what an Iraq expert thinks about those numbers. But it sounds to me like the Sunnis -- the former rulers of the country -- are entirely unreconciled to their new status as an embattled minority. And, as signified by the high percentage still committed to a centralized Iraq, they remain committed to regaining their earlier role. This latter point, is admittedly much more speculative. I can think of alternative readings.

But these numbers together make it sound very much like the civil war proper is ahead of us, not behind us. Each sides' belief that it can win is the fuel of civil wars. And I suspect a tactical decision with respect to the Shia central government, not al Qaeda, is what's behind the 'Anbar Awakening.'