Staying the course - but switching sides?

Does anyone know which side we're on in Iraq any more? (Patrick? Jenn? Care to put a stake in the ground on this one?) From Iraq leader warns U.S. to stop interfering by Edward Wong New York Times via International Herald Tribune 03/30/06.

American reactions to the political process can be seen as either supporting or interfering in Iraqi decisions, said Jaafari, head of the Islamic Dawa Party and a former exile in Iran and London. "When it takes the form of interference, it makes the Iraqi people worried," he added. "For that reason, the Iraqi people want to ensure that these reactions stay in a positive frame and do not cross over into interference that damages the results of the democratic process."

According to the Constitution, the largest bloc in Parliament, in this case the religious Shiites, has the right to nominate a prime minister. Jaafari won that nomination in a secret ballot last month among the 130 Shiite members of Parliament. But his victory was a narrow one: He came out on top by only one vote after getting the support of Sadr, who controls 32 seats.

That alliance has ignited concern among the Americans that Jaafari will do little to rein in Sadr, who led two fierce rebellions against the U.S. military in 2004. Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, went rampaging in Baghdad after the Feb. 22 bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in Samarra and after a series of car bomb explosions on March 12 in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. The violence left hundreds dead and Sunni mosques burned to the ground.

My "stake in the ground" on this one? We are so [Cheney]ed ...

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