Bush's Best Friend

This is incredibly ironic.

Iran pulls Bush's fat out of the fire and saves the progress of his "surge" by calming the battle between waring Shiite factions (Maliki and al Sadr). Of course to the Iranians, relative peace will likely lead to a withdrawal of American troops. But interestingly, Iran has done nothing to stop the elimination of the Sunni "al Qaeda" in Iraq group.

Gee. I wonder why Iran would do that? You've got to wonder what Saudi Arabia thinks of such a move by Iran and what pressure (oil anyone?) will be brought to bear on the U.S. to permanently stay in Iraq? If Iran continues to be successful in mediating the Shiite civil war, look to the Sunni's to gain increased funding from the Saudi's.

Added: Needlenose makes a very good point about the recent dust-up noting that the brief skirmish was an Iranian field test:

Al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stand down seven months ago — earning him praise from U.S. commanders and officials. That cease-fire, in theory at least, remains in force. Militia commanders, however, say it was aggressively used by al-Sadr and his top aides to restructure and better arm and train militiamen.

The commanders, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said they have recently been taking delivery of new weapons from Iran, including rockets, roadside bombs and mortars. They have also received an infusion of cash and sent militiamen to Iran for training.

"It is a clever ploy," a militia commander in Baghdad's Sadr City district, the Mahdi Army's largest stronghold, said last week. "We can take on anyone in Iraq now."

Who in their right mind would have ever thought that the recent decline in violence was merely an opportunity to reload?