[Tallguy]

Iraq is like a 3-legged stool. You can’t cut off 1 leg & expect to be able to sit on it. Though Maliki is Shia & can brook no organized opposition form his own, he can’t go all the way against them. He may need their support in the future.

I don’t dispute your analogy, BTW. In fact it is a pretty good one.

[tobyhill]

My analogy was based on the 2 liter bottle of Pepsi I was in process of opening immediately follow it's ride in the trunk of my vehicle along a very rough road due to construction.