A Grim Monday in Iraq

Apparently today's Iraqi bombings have taken the biggest toll this year to date. Not encouraging news at all. Juan Cole finds some faint glimmers of hope in reports that Nuri al-Maliki may try t find a way to include ‘Iyad ‘Allawi's &lsqluo;Iraqiyya Movement in a new government. That, at least, would give Sunni voters a sense they were represented.

I suspect the US would dearly like to see such an inclusion, but the more openly the US supports one side, the more it may alienate others. It's a delicate balancing act.