Amid the insanity that has become the status of forces debate, Fouad Ajami brings much-needed clarity to the discussion of a continued military presence in Iraq.

If a struggle is said to be taking place over Iraq between America and Iran, this seals the outcome and puts to rest the claim that the Iraq war has midwifed a Shiite theocracy in Iran’s image.

Sounds kind of important to me. And as to what the Iraqis are thinking:

Maliki was not a man alone in the tilt toward the United States. He came to this choice with the warrant and the approval of some of the country’s most influential leaders among the Sunnis and the Kurds, and within his own Shiite community. There has been no explicit statement from the Shiite religious hierarchy in Najaf and its pre-eminent jurist, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. But subtlety is Sistani’s trademark. His representatives have let the word out that an agreement with the United States would have to receive parliamentary acceptance.

Which, at the moment, is a bit more crucial than Obama’s acceptance.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 5:31 PM and is filed under Contentions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.