The coming pro-Tehran regime in Baghdad

A crucial article in the Washington Post on the geopolitical implications of the Iraqi elections. Money:

"The idea that the United States would get a quick, stable, prosperous, pro-American and pro-Israel Iraq has not happened. Most of the neoconservative assumptions about what would happen have proven false," [said] Rami Khouri, Arab analyst and editor of Beirut's Daily Star....

"The big losers in this election are the liberals," said Stanford University's Larry Diamond, who was an adviser to the U.S. occupation government. "The fact that three-quarters of the national assembly seats have gone to just two [out of 111] slates is a worrisome trend. Unless the ruling coalition reaches out to broaden itself to include all groups, the insurgency will continue -- and may gain ground."