Iran Steps In, Bush Irrelevent

This is the de facto situation in Iraq. The U.S. is irrelevant in Iraq, and Iran is highly influential having brokered the current stand-down in fighting. Maliki's party (not Maliki btw who was undermined by his own buddies) sure had easy access to Iran for being a U.S. ally now didn't they?

Added: Tristero's comment on this development:

Think about that. Four thousand plus American lives have been sacrificed, countless Iraqis have also died, at a financial cost in the multiple trillions and the upshot is not democracy but the spread of radical Shiite islamism. There aren't words in the English language ominous enough to describe how profound a catastrophe this is.

It really is an astounding outcome ... a poster child for unintended consequences.