International diplomacy has not been a strong suit of the Bush administration. Such an understatement seems almost humorous. At any rate, somehow or other, they tend to come up with approaches that are often self-defeating and mostly unsuccessful.
The United States went into Iraq for all sorts of wrong reasons. One of these reasons was a realignment of the Middle East by allowing Iraq to be dominated by its majority population, the Shiites. Somehow, they did not anticipate the consequence of such a role of Shiites in Iraq in relationship to its neighbor, Iran.
Now, they are trying to figure out a new way to restore some balance by trying to restore Sunni strength in Iraq (giving arms and money to Sunni sheiks so that they can restore some security, especially in Northwest Iraq. To assist in this restoration of balance between the Shiites and Sunnis, they have given new military weapons, including planes. to Saudi Arabia. They anticipate that the fear of Shiite strength will mobilize the Sunni Arabs throughout the region to gain a role that will temper the Shiites.
Vali Naser does not share these views. Iran is not seeking to dominate the Middle East by expanding its power throughout the region. Rather, Iran is seeking international respect for its role within the Middle East. Attempting to mitigate the implications of the demographics, there should be a diplomatic effort to channel the strengths of both the Shiite and Sunni nations into a collaborative effort to provide security and economic development throughout the region.
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