As many have predicted the victory in Iraq will be a hand over of much influence on the country to its Shiite fundamentalist neighbor - Iran. The US and Iran ambassadors have just concluded an unprecedented round of talks on the topic of Iraq. This has been predicted on huffpo not long ago by blogger Hooman Majd - I think. He then said that a division of the spoils of sorts in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion between the US and Iran will serve as a basis of cooperation that could stabilize the Middle East. This is not unrealistic - the US should have seen this as a way out long time ago - Iran had served as a stabilizing counterweight to Saddam Hussein before the Iraq invasion.
The US overture toward a mortal enemy will present a quandary to the leadership in Congress - now Democratic and anti-war. As they have failed to cut off funding for the war in Iraq and force the president to accept a withdrawal timetable they will now be met with arguments in favor of military presence in Iraq that would be needed to bolster the US position in negotiations with Iran. And there is much to be gained from such negotiations.
A larger question is whether it is wise to entrust this cynical and secretive administration with this sort of delicate diplomacy while it is clear it should not have been entrusted with initiation and conduct of the conflict in Iraq. Democrats will be embarrassed if Bush really achieves results through this diplomatic initiative. The best thing they could do right now is to pass a law to forbid a US attack on Iran.
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