Iraqi Minister of Defense Saadoun Dulaimi is now in Iran for consultations with his opposite number, in preparation for the visit next week of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari to Tehran. Sources close to Jaafari told al-Hayat that Jaafari and Dulaimi will be offering Iran a pledge that Iraqi soil will not be used as a base for any American attack on Iran. They will affirm that Baghdad "is not a part of any American enmity toward Tehran." The sources said that Dulaimi's consultations concern in part better Iranian policing of the border so as to prevent the infiltration of militants into Iraq. He will also discuss the Iranian role in training Iraqi armed forces.
I repeat: Dulaimi is discussing with the Iranians their training of Iraqi troops! The Iranian Revolutionary Guards did train the Badr Corps paramilitary, the main militia of the Iraqi Shiite community. But surely the Americans cannot want such strong Iranian influence in the new Iraqi military.
Anyone who didn't expect this is naive indeed. The majority of the Iraqi government has strong historic ties to Iran. Contrary to Bush Administration "intellegence", they wish to create a theocracy of their own in Iraq. While many are showing the kind of restraint that Iran hasn't in the areas of tolerance and civil liberties, there could be no question that a new central government in Iraq would have strong ties to Iran. The Iranians already have considerable political clout in Iraq. Training the army will only reinforce publicly what is already going on the behind the scenes. But such open cooperation however will have political consequences to voters in America. This will not make Bush happy. However, other than protesting, even the Iraqi's clearly believe that in the long run an alliance with Iran will be more in their interests than a love-hate relationship with the US.
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