I am not an Ahmadinejad's fan, but the comparison between his offical visit to Iraq and Bush's last visit to Iraq was quite amusing. The leader of the world only superpower is rushed in secret to the capital of the country his army has occupied, stays there for a few hours and hurries out. While his tiny enemy announces his visit a week in advance, receives a red carpet welcome, trades kisses with Iraqi officials and has one press conference after another.
That should show the world who is really in charge in Iraq.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080302/pl_afp/iraqiranunrestusahmadinejad_080302204114&printer=1
" Ahmadinejad pokes Uncle Sam in eye on Iraq visit
by Carlos Hamann 47 minutes ago
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad poked his finger in the eye of Uncle Sam on his visit to Iraq on Sunday, displaying his country's regional influence in the face of 158,000 US soldiers in Iraq.
Top officials from the US-supported Iraqi government welcomed Ahmadinejad with hugs and kisses on a trip that opens a new phase between former enemies which fought a bitter war in the 1980s.
The televised lovefest was enough to give supporters of US President George W. Bush a seizure.
In 2002, Bush famously described Iraq -- then under Saddam Hussein -- Iran and North Korea as the axis of evil. One year later, US-led forces stormed Iraq and toppled Saddam.
Nearly five years, billions of dollars and 3,972 US dead later, American soldiers are holed up in fortified bases while the Islamic republic's leader is welcomed with flowers in Baghdad.
Ahmadinejad talked about regional stability upon arrival. He acknowledged Iraqis were going through "tough" times, but he was certain the Iraqi people would "overcome the situation".
"A united, powerful and developed Iraq is in the interests of all countries of the region," he said.
After a red-carpet welcome at President Jalal Talabani's Baghdad residence, Ahmadinejad travelled to the heart of the US presence in Iraq -- the Green Zone citadel -- for talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The premier's office is located less than two kilometres (just a mile) from the US embassy.
US officials went to great lengths to distance themselves from the visit, emphasising that Ahmadinejad was an Iraqi guest, and that the US military was not involved in any way.
Washington broke off diplomatic ties with Tehran in 1980 after Iranian students stormed the US embassy in Tehran and held its staff hostage.
US-led coalition soldiers, Iraqi soldiers and private guards provide security around the Green Zone, but the Iranian visitor was whisked inside under Iraqi official escort.
At Maliki's office, Ahmadinejad took a verbal swipe at Bush, who on Saturday accused him of "exporting terror".
Ahmadinejad's response: "Bush cannot solve US problems in the region by accusing others. Gone is the era of accusations. The Iraqi nation does not want the US.
"Six years ago there was no terrorism in our region. As soon as strangers (the Americans) put their foot in the region, the terrorists came here," he said.
Washington stops short of formally accusing Tehran of interference in Iraq, although they blame an alleged covert unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards for fomenting violence.
Joost Hiltermann, a Middle East analyst with the International Crisis Group, said the Iranians were profiting from the US presence in Iraq.
"The Iranians were very happy that the regime of Saddam Hussein was removed," said Hiltermann. "They were just not happy that it was done by the Americans."
Yet for all the rhetoric, if the US forces went home, Iran would have to fill the security void. "For all practical purposes they want the Americans to stay, they just don't want them to succeed," Hiltermann said.
...
Under Saddam's rule, many politicians prominent today -- including Talabani, Maliki, and Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) party -- were exiled in Iran.
As for Iranian-supplied weapons, "how do we make a distinction between black market weapons and those supplied by a deliberate government policy?" Cole asked.
He noted that most of the violence was the work of Sunni extremists.
Brigadier General Kevin Bergner, a spokesman for the US-led forces in Iraq, agreed. "Al-Qaeda in Iraq continues to be the main threat overall to the security situation in Iran," he said.
Cole instead sees US complaints against Iran as part of a game of influence over the leading Iraqi players. "I see the whole thing as a jealous girlfriend story," he said.
The Iraqis know that the US presence is "here today, gone tomorrow," Hiltermann said, while their relationship with Iran has been "forged by history and geography, and will be forever".
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posted 02 March 2008 12:35 PM
