LONDON -- Repeat after me: There is no new U.S. strategy in Iraq. The allies are the same, the enemies are the same, the tactics are the same, even the new American force strength lies within the range that has prevailed since 2003.
We are only being told that there is a new strategy because U.S. President George W. Bush had to say that he was doing something differently after the Republicans' stunning defeat in the mid-term Congressional elections two months ago.
America's allies in Iraq have not changed: the Kurds, and those Shiite Arabs who believe that American troops are still useful to help nail down their new domination over the Sunni Arab minority. That latter group includes the Shiite religious establishment around Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the Iranian-backed Badr Brigade and its associated death squads, and some of the Shiite factions close to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.