Now, I completely agree that Hizballah, the Iranians, and the Syrians are smart people, but I'd have to say that they are among the palest in the denizens of the Middle East. . . .
And if the Iranians are really smart, they'll come up with a better Iraq policy than this:
<http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-09T140905Z_01_COL948663_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ.xml> Iraq's PM to visit Iran next week for key talks Sat Sep 9, 2006 3:09 PM BST
By Ibon Villelabeitia
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will make his first official visit to Iran on Monday, a trip that will bring into focus key security and political issues at a time when Baghdad is battling to avert a civil war.
Iraq and non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran fought a war in the 1980s under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated rule. But relations have been warmer since Iraq's Shi'ite majority won national elections, unsettling Iraq's minority Sunni Arabs and many Sunni-dominated states distrustful of Tehran's influence.
Washington, pushing for international sanctions against Tehran over its atomic ambitions, accuses Iran of providing logistical and financial support to Shi'ite militias in Iraq. Tehran denies this.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said on Saturday Maliki, a Shi'ite, would discuss with fellow Islamist leaders in Iran, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "principle of no interference in internal affairs" during his two-day visit.
"The purpose of the visit is to discuss political and security issues," Dabbagh told Reuters.
Though Maliki has brought Sunnis into his national unity government since he took over in May and conspicuously chose Sunni Gulf Arab states for his first foreign trip, his visit to powerful Iran will likely upset Sunnis.
Analysts have pointed out Iran's increasing influence in post-war Iraq since the empowerment of its Shi'ite majority.
This influence, analysts say, is particularly stronger in the mainly Shi'ite south, where a top Shi'ite leader this week renewed demands for an autonomous Shi'ite region.
"Iran views Iraq as its own backyard and has now superseded the U.S. as the most influential power there; this affords it a key role in Iraq's future," a report by the London-based Chatham House think-tank said last month.
It also said Tehran had an "unparalleled ability to affect stability and security across most of the country".
The announcement of Maliki's visit follows a dispute between the two countries in which Iranian border guards this week detained Iraqi guards after accusing them of crossing into Iran.
Iraq's Defence Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Shaker said the Iraqi patrol, consisting of five soldiers, an officer and a translator, had simply been doing "their duty".
SHI'ITE MILITIAS
While struggling to defeat a Sunni insurgency, Maliki has also pledged to rein in Shi'ite militias blamed for much of the sectarian violence that kills an estimated 100 people a day.
Analysts have said disarming militias won't be easy because of their ties with political parties. The Badr Organisation, the armed wing of the powerful SCIRI party, a partner in Maliki's coalition, was a product of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims who had converged in the holy city of Kerbala to celebrate the Shaabaniya ritual began leaving the southern city after Saturday's climax ended days of chanting, praying and feasting.
Heavy presence by police and Iraqi troops kept out the Sunni al Qaeda suicide bombers who have disrupted previous rituals. The provincial governor said 3 million attended.
Worshippers heard SCIRI leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim repeat demands for legislation to let mainly Shi'ite regions of the oil-rich south merge into an autonomous federal region that would neighbour Iran.
The Shi'ite-sponsored draft law, which exposed Iraq's sectarian tensions during a tumultuous parliament session on Thursday after Sunni lawmakers opposed it, is set to get its first reading on Sunday.
Sunnis, who inhabit a large swathe in central and western Baghdad, fear federalism will allow Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the south to carve up their own regions and cut them off from the country's vast oil wealth.
In fresh violence on Saturday, 16 bodies were found in different areas of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, bound, blindfolded and shot. Police said they were unable to identify them because they were not carrying identity cards.
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>