Uhuh. Remember the "Fallujah Brigade"? That worked real well, didn't it.
500 ex-Baathists sent to police a city with several thousand insurgents was going to fail regardless of what you thought about the Fallujah Brigade.
The Fallujah brigade was something that had to be tried. If it failed, it would suck more jihadi scum into a fight they couldn't win. If they were able to keep order, that could have been a short cut to a stable Iraq, with Sunni forces keeping order in Sunni areas.
A risk? Certainly, but a calculated one. In hindsight, you can kill every jihadi with a single days's supply of knitting needles. Coming up with a distribution plan with out his cooperation is the hard part.
General Grant was asked how long it would take to get to Richmond said "I would agree to be there in about four days, if General Lee becomes party to the agreement. If he objects, the arrival is likely to be delayed."