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As I stated previously, there may just be no good answer. This clearly has to be faced. There may be a bloodbath no matter what the US does, or when it does it. Iraq may be broken beyond our ability to fix. If that is true, though, Americans need to be warned about it so it won't be a shock if-and-when it happens.
The big question that will be answered in the months to come (as with any policy change outlined here) is whether the Bush White House would (1) fully commit to such an idea (as opposed to just going through the motions for political cover), and (2) achieve measurable success by doing so. Look for announcements from the administration very soon on new diplomatic efforts, but also keep an eye on their follow-through to see whether they're truly serious about such efforts.
Early on in the memo, without apparently realizing it, Hadley has written the most hilariously ironic thing ever written by any member of the Bush administration, bar none (pot, meet kettle...): "The information he receives is undoubtedly skewed by his small circle of Dawa advisors, coloring his actions and interpretation of reality." Just change "Dawa" to "neo-con" and the sentence would fit perfectly -- for President Bush.
How insane is it that this is an election issue? What kind of country have we become? Even Colin Powell is pointing out that we're now taking the moral low road. Have we all forgotten all those World War II movies with the guy in a dirty lab coat and a thick German accent saying "Ve haff vays of makink you talk..."?
It would still give American soldiers the mission of separating a populace along ethnic and religious lines. Not exactly recruiting-poster material. "Join the Army. Help Shi'ites evict Sunnis. Help Sunnis purify their villages and send Shi'ites and Kurds packing." Inspirational, isn't it?
There's an old saying: "Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and take what comes." Unfortunately, the Bush neo-cons have twisted this to read: "Assure everyone the best will happen, fire anybody who even mentions a worse outcome (and smear as a traitor anyone who mentions the 'worst' outcome, since they're obviously rooting for the terrorists), and then refuse to face reality when things turn out differently."
This reduction of war to the level of a video game is disrespectful and demeaning for all concerned: soldiers who fight and die on the battlefield; relatives of soldiers who watch their loved ones' deaths reduced to a cartoon; the news media for sanitizing the brutality and reality of war to the level of a bloodless video game; and finally the viewing public for being essentially told they are children who can't handle adult images of combat wounds and death.