At long last, there are signs that Iraq is recognizing the importance of our friendship:
Eight months since American troops withdrew from Iraq, Baghdad has signalled a readiness to bolster military ties with the US, [General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff] said ahead of a visit to the country. ...
"I believe they've concluded that they missed a window of opportunity to establish a more normal relationship with us," said Dempsey, referring to discussions with Iraqi defence chiefs.
"I don't mean to say we're coming back to Iraq," he said.
"I think they recognise their capabilities may require yet more additional development and I think they're reaching out to us to see if we can help them with that."
The Iraqi defence minister and military chief have both inquired about staging drills with the US military, organising training for Iraqi officers and other "security cooperation", Dempsey said.
Good. They need us to prosper and we need them to succeed.
Also, our continuing relationship--let alone the prospect of a more normal military-to-military relationship--should show that it is ridiculous for so many analysts to speak of Iraq as being in Iran's sphere of influence as if Iraq is a client state of Iran.
Syria is an Iranian client state. Iran simply has influence in Iraq. Not that I am happy with that, but that is a fact of life of Iraq's current weakness relative to Iran. Would we speak of Canada as in our sphere of influence? I think not. Nor would Canadians, I dare say.
But I welcome a chance to expand our influence in Iraq. The majority of Iraqis do not want Iran to dominate Iraq. Nor do we want that.
UPDATE: Max Boot addresses our lack of a presence in Iraq.
