One of the ‘benefits’ to the American led invasion in Iraq has been the fact that the actual physical presence of the ‘Great Satan’ in Iraq has spawned a type of Shiite regional internationalism that is only now dawning on US policy makers and military planners.

As testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee has revealed, Iran has been able to pull together disparate elements from Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and forge a common alliance that has kept the US bogged down in Iraq. Further, it used Israel’s war on Lebanon as a training ground for Shiite militias, and Hezbollah’s experience in order to bring that expertise home to Iraq.

I have stated in earlier posts that Iran knows how to play chess, while the US has lost all sight of what is happening in the Middle East and proceeds in a blind, arrogant and disorganized fashion. While US influence in the region wanes, Iranian influence waxes.

Now it is coming to light that Iran had made the strategic decision sometime during the last winter to provide Shiites in Iraq with the training and technical know-how to wage a successful campaign in order to defend the gains they made there after the American invasion.

Let’s not forget that the US went into Iraq promising Democracy. The Shiites, being the vast majority of the population, are demanding exactly that. A true democracy in Iraq would mean that Iraq would in fact be ruled by the Shiites. An Iraq ruled by the Shiites, in turn, would mean a strong alliance with Iran.

In a way then, the Iraqi insurgency is a mixed blessing. While it costs the US about 2.32 dead American soldiers a day, that is not such a huge cost compared to the benefit. What is the benefit? The fact that the insurgency gives the US the excuse to stay on in Iraq.

To get the picture, just imagine the following scenario:

The US invades Iraq, puts Saddam Hussein out of business, and all the Iraqis come out into the street to rain flowers on the victorious American forces. Then within 3 months of the invasion, Iraqis organize themselves with the help of friendly and understanding American administrators into a fully functional democracy, there are smiles all around and the democratically elected Shiite Prime Minister courteously asks the Americans to kindly leave since there is no need for them anymore. The US, being a good natured and understanding champion of democracy, does indeed leave because, after all, ‘mission accomplished’!

Soon after the Americans have left Iraq, we see the Iraqi government getting extremely cozy with Iran, agreeing to work together with it to develop ‘peaceful’ nuclear energy, and side with Iran on most issues in the region, including the Iranian attitude towards Israel with regard to Palestine and Lebanon.

Further, Iraq also begins to get cozy with Syria (after a 25 year freeze in relations) and agrees to work together with it and Iran to bolster their common security and deal together with regional challenges, i.e. Israel and American aggression against Iraq’s allies, meaning Iran and Syria.

Hmmm…does all this sound like science fiction? Well, it is reality and it is happening right now. If it wasn’t for the Sunni insurgency, all this would have happened two years ago, and today things may have been even more bleak for the US in the region…and for that paragon of eloquence and refinement…W…or should I spell it…dubya

PS.: Most of the above must be read in the light of irony. Failure to do so may result in severe brain injury…