Even Charles Krauthammer (sp?) bought into the Maliki is weaker logic, although it seemed Brit Hume was surprised at that reading. It really seems to me the media analysts have sold us a huge pile of bull on this. The Maliki move had some problematic side effects, but was a major step in the right direction.
With the existing cultural and sectarian situation it would appear that Maliki only had to show that he COULD kick Mookie's butt if he needed to. That would leave Mookie with only a political option, which Maliki apparently already had covered (i.e. if you have a private militia, you can't be in the political process).