Maliki is opposed Bush/Cheney effort to use Iraq to attack Iran

There is little doubt that a major reason why Bush/Cheney attacked Iraq in part to use that nation as a site of military bases and as a launching place for attacks on Iran. But at the same time,Bush is strongly supporting the Maliki government he installed in Iraq.

So why is Maliki in Tehran saying:

"Iraq today doesn't present any threat as it used to be in the times of the former regime," al-Maliki told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a Sunday meeting between two leaders, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

"Today's Iraq is a constitutional state based on the rule of law, and it seeks to develop its relations with the regional countries based on cooperation and mutual respect," al-Maliki said.

Before Bush idiotically invaded Iraq that nation as a major counter to the power of Iran in the Middle East. Now, as a direct result of the American invasion of Iraq, the power of Iran has spread to cover the northern Persian Gulf.

Bush is desperately attempting to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq that will allow America to keep troops based in that nation for the foreseeable future. (See U.S. Immunity in Iraq Will Go Beyond June 30 and Iraqi officials worry about security deal with U.S..) The intent is clearly to wrap up the agreement, avoid Constitutionally required Senate confirmation of the treaty by defining it as merely an "agreement", and get it into place before a Democratic President is inaugurated in January 2009 so as to tie his hands and prevent him from withdrawing from Iraq.

Somehow this is supposed to permit control of Iran and also terrorists operating in and from Iraq. The only apparent recognizable mechanism for achieving those goals is right-wing hope. Unsurprising because Bush/Cheney routinely substitute hope and bluster for plans.

Bush's legacy in the Middle East is very clearly a diminution of American strength there and a large increase in the regional power of Iran. McCain, with his "stay the course and practice bluster" extension of the Bush/Cheney policies will do nothing to limit Iran's power. Maliki's statements to the Iranians that he will not permit attacks from Iraq into Iran is another example of that lack of the failure of the Bush/Cheney Middle East policies.