The headline
says it all:
Iraq Winners Allied With Iran Are the Opposite of U.S. Vision
This story, buried on page A-8 of the WaPo, states the obvious:
When the Bush administration decided to invade Iraq two years ago, it envisioned a quick handover to handpicked allies in a secular government that would be the antithesis of Iran's theocracy -- potentially even a foil to Tehran's regional ambitions.
But, in one of the greatest ironies of the U.S. intervention, Iraqis instead went to the polls and elected a government with a strong religious base -- and very close ties to the Islamic republic next door. It is the last thing the administration expected from its costly Iraq policy -- $300 billion and counting, U.S. and regional analysts say.
The "last thing it expected"? Holy shit! Granted, not every predicted outcome has come to pass -- Turkey still hasn't invaded Kurdistan (thus far) -- but this was clearly one of the obvious outcomes.
The neocon pipedream was an Israel-friendly Iraqi government, something even their Chosen One (Chalabi) refused to promise. Now, instead, we get a marginalized but still powerful Sunni minority enraged at their marginalization, and a ruling majority that have more in common with the Taliban than a secular Democracy.
Way to go! And at a time that Condi is running around the world threatening Iran with invasion, we've just facilitated its electoral invasion of Iraq:
[T]he top two winning parties -- which together won more than 70 percent of the vote and are expected to name Iraq's new prime minister and president -- are Iran's closest allies in Iraq.
Thousands of members of the United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite-dominated slate that won almost half of the 8.5 million votes and will name the prime minister, spent decades in exile in Iran. Most of the militia members in its largest faction were trained in Shiite-dominated Iran.
And the winning Kurdish alliance, whose co-leader Jalal Talabani is the top nominee for president, has roots in a province abutting Iran, which long served as its economic and political lifeline.
"This is a government that will have very good relations with Iran. The Kurdish victory reinforces this conclusion. Talabani is very close to Tehran," said Juan Cole, a University of Michigan expert on Iraq. "In terms of regional geopolitics, this is not the outcome that the United States was hoping for."
If the cost of this monumental fuck up was only $300 billion, that would be easier to take. But it's unfortunate that this piece ignores the thousands of US and allied troops that have died for this failed policy. That's the
real cost of this mess.