PRAGUE -- Despite frequent claims to the contrary, the fundamental problem in the Middle East is not intervention by the West but rather the apparent inability of the Western powers to conduct either war or dialogue. This leaves everyone in the region at the mercy of the Middle East's oppressive regimes and proliferating terrorists.
Advocates of the Iraq war lacked an understanding of the complexities on the ground to wage an effective war of liberation and democratization. As a result, their policies merely ended up eliminating Iran's two major regional rivals: the Taliban and Saddam Hussein's regime. This presented Iran with a golden opportunity to project itself as a regional hegemon, and Iran's leaders are unlikely to let this opportunity slip away.
Advocates of dialogue with the Iranians and their Syrian allies, such as former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, labor under the delusion that they can actually reach an understanding that can enable a graceful U.S. exit from Iraq and help stabilize that wounded country.