Bush, US increasingly at mercy of Iran in Iraq. This conference may not be all that important. However, this other sources indicate that Iran has become the regional superpower and that no permanent resolution in the area will happen without Iran's complicity.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- "After nearly a quarter-century of severed ties, Iraq on Tuesday resumed diplomatic relations with neighboring Syria -- a move seen as a possible step toward stemming some of the unrelenting violence in Iraq.

"The Iraqi and Syrian presidents also received invitations from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to weekend meetings in Tehran to tackle the chaos in Iraq, Iraqi lawmakers said.

"Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's spokesman said his boss would attend but that Syrian President Bashar Assad would not." (Betcha someone from Syria with Assad's phone number will be there.)

Who would have thought? Certainly not Bush's first term National Security Advisor, or second term Secretary of State.

Arf