Just one more delve. Or two.

The NYTimes article about the "secret" Stephen Hadley memo (noted below) gets curiouser and curiouser the more you read of it, in a though-the-looking-glass kind of way.

The memo wonders if Maliki might be using his position in the government to expand Shia power at the expense of Sunnis (imagine that!).

Of course, it suggests asking the Saudis for help - sort of a Bushco-standard ploy.

And it includes this striking observation:

Among the concerns voiced in the memo was that Mr. Maliki was surrounded by a small group of advisers from the Shiite Dawa Party, a narrow circle that American officials worry may skew the information he receives.

Yeah, that'd worry them, all right.

It mentions “reports of nondelivery of services to Sunni areas" - wouldn't it be fun if Hadley had written a memo about Katrina?

And it goes on to say...

...it may ultimately be necessary for Mr. Maliki to recast his parliamentary bloc, a step the United States could support by pressing moderates to align themselves with the Iraqi leader and providing them with monetary support.

Screw the purple fingers, we want results.