Or is it merely another indicator that the administration's hawkish Cabinet was deluded by their own arrogance and out of touch with reality.

Administration rehires Baathist Party personnel and members of fired military.

I'm not so sure putting Sunnis back in positions of influence is going to make the Kurds and Shiites very happy. It may just exasperate the civil war. However, if we're lucky, it could appease the Iraqis enough to quell some of the bloodshed.

But if I remember right, the Whitehouse doesn't like the idea of appeasement. Hmmmm.