Has it begun?

Have the Iraqis finally had enough? It just might be true.

A member of an influential Sunni clerics' group that has called for a boycott of Iraqi national elections was assassinated Monday, one day after government officials announced that the vote would be held early next year despite rising violence.

Sheik Faidh Mohamed Amin al-Faidhi, a member of the Association of Muslim Scholars (search), was shot by gunmen at his home in northern Mosul.

At a minimum, I think this is a message sent by PUK. "Don't screw with us." The Kurds are much more likely to rid themselves of the terrorists than the Sunnis, who may still see them as, at least partially, defending their rights.

Maybe if the Sunni leaders start to wonder if they're next, they might just reconsider their opposition to the rule of law, especially now that Allawi is getting serious about ridding the countryside of "insurgents".