This is very interesting and hasn’t received much attention as of yet:

Major partners in Iraq’s governing coalition are in behind-the-scenes talks to oust Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid discontent over his failure to quell raging violence, according to lawmakers involved.

The talks are aimed at forming a new parliamentary bloc that would seek to replace the current government and that would likely exclude supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is a vehement opponent of the U.S. military presence.

The new alliance would be led by senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, who met with President Bush last week. Al-Hakim, however, was not expected to be the next prime minister because he prefers the role of powerbroker, staying above the grinding day-to-day running of the country.

A key figure in the proposed alliance, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, left for Washington on Sunday for a meeting with Bush at least three weeks ahead of schedule.

Interesting how the “key figures” in this movement have had meetings in Washington. It sounds like the Hadley memo carried some meaning. What else is interesting is the fact that al-Maliki was essentially Bush’s pick to run the country. Remember – they had picked someone else, until Washington pressured the country into picking Maliki.

So what does al-Maliki think about this?

They said al-Maliki was livid at the attempt to unseat him.

“We know what’s going on and we will sabotage it,” said a close al-Maliki aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities involved. He did not elaborate.

Now if they do manage to “sabotage” this, what will happen to the al-Maliki/Bush relationship. Certainly he realizes political leaders in his own country, the same ones behind this attempted ousting, have come here to Washington to meet with officials. That shows al-Maliki that Bush’s government is involved deeply in this attempt.

For a country they claim isn’t in civil war, this is a very dangerous game. Either way it ends risks a big danger of pushing the country more into civil war.