Iraq election results split - leaves Iran policy in limbo

This is good. If the buds of negotiation and secular direction can be kept alive the insurgency will shrink.

Power Check: Verdict Is Split in Iraqi Election

The razor-thin margin apparently captured by the Shiite alliance here in election results announced Sunday seems almost certain to enshrine a weak government that will be unable to push through sweeping changes, like granting Islam a central role in the new Iraqi state. The verdict handed down by Iraqi voters in the Jan. 30 election appeared to be a divided one, with the Shiite political alliance, backed by the clerical leadership in Najaf, opposed in nearly equal measure by an array of mostly secular minority parties.

It will also make it harder for the slim Shiite majority to metastasize into a true pro-Iranian theocracy. We should be grateful for that, considering the President's willingness to start warscombined with his No Mullah Left Behind energy policy. The next few months will be nail biters. I don't think anyone knows where this will go. I can only hope that Iraq stabilizes enough so that when things go to hell with Iran, we are in a better position to deal with it.