Word: shied
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...high-profile pushback? Diplomatic necessity. Bush was to embark on Jan. 8 for an eight-day Middle East trip, in part to persuade his gulf allies to unite against Iran. Their leaders (all Sunnis) are wary of (Shi'ite) Iran's growing power but have been reluctant to side with U.S. calls for a new U.N. resolution. Last year's U.S. intelligence report, which downplayed the Iranian nuclear threat, did little to help U.S. credibility on the issue. So even a brief act of aggression by Iran became welcome evidence for the U.S. case. Skeptics say Washington sees...
...toppling Saddam Hussein's dictatorship was more about breaking Arab military strength and projecting American strategic power than fighting terrorism, much less creating Iraqi democracy. While Iraq is no longer a one-man show, it will be a very long time before anyone considers the country, now dominated by Shi'ite Muslim gangs, Kurdish warlords and Sunni terrorists, emblematic of an emerging democracy. If the Iraq war was about Bush's freedom agenda, Arabs wonder, why has the White House stood by so quietly as pro-American authoritarian Arab regimes have jailed democracy activists, as happened to former presidential candidate...
...more concerned about another U.S. war in the Gulf - this time against Iran, to wipe out its nuclear program. That could bring a swift backlash, either through direct Iranian military retaliation against Washington's regional allies, or in the form of fomenting long-term political unrest and terrorism among Shi'ite minorities in those countries. Arabs were relieved when the recent National Intelligence Estimate on Iran said that the Islamic regime had shelved its nuclear weapons program in 2003. But a major aim of Bush's tour is to rally Gulf Arabs into an anti-Iran bloc bent on further...
...Iran isn't even bothering to hide its imperial grasp. Or that oil is the key to the Gulf's heart. A contact in a major U.S. oil company told me that Iraq's Shi'a-led oil ministry has been soliciting the company's interest in a couple of Iraqi fields. When the company finally took the bait, the Iraqis coyly suggested that the company might want to first pass through Tehran to get an Iranian green light. It was the only way for the U.S. major to secure an Iraqi property. The company of course declined the invitation...
...over, and U.S. troop strength will be back where it was in late 2006. So, if the cease-fire does end, the U.S. will not be fighting with the 30,000 reinforcements that contributed to the gains of 2007. It will also face an adversary with strong support in Shi'ite communities and elements of the Iraqi government. At that point it may be the U.S., rather than its foe, that will have to make a tough choice about whether it can or should continue to fight...