BAGHDAD — The Obama administration's Iraq policy is in chaos. Seven months after Iraq's national elections, the United States has publicly denied taking sides in the wrangling over who will be prime minister. Privately, however, the U.S. is backing the incumbent, Nouri al-Maliki.
The U.S. has applied tremendous diplomatic pressure on Iraq's Arab neighbors to get them to accept another Maliki term. Most have refused. Initially, the U.S. backed Maliki in order to keep the Sadrist bloc from gaining a share of power. That has backfired, since the Sadrists are the only group other than Maliki's coalition of Shiite parties that supports him.
One unsettling consequence of U.S. diplomacy is that it has reinforced Iran's role in Iraq, because Maliki is Iran's preferred candidate for prime minister. Thus, at the very moment that the U.S. is leading a global campaign to isolate Iran over its nuclear program, it is strengthening Iran's regional position.