In response to ottopilot's post (which has mysteriously disappeared) suggesting we invaded Iraq to get to Iran (?)...if that was the US plan, it was just another example of the moronic logic of the neo-conservatives.
Saddam, as brutal to his own people as he was, was also a buffer against the spread of Iran's influence in the region. The new shiia-dominated governemnt in Iraq is controlled by the
Dawa and
SCIRI parties, both of which have long-standing ties to Iran.
The only thing we accomplished in Iraq by removing Saddam was to strengthen Iran and the shiia extremist clerics in Iraql, like Moqtada al-Sadr