It’s impossible not to see the belligerent attitude of Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, as unconnected from the growing U.S.-Iran conflict. SCIRI, which was created by Iran and has strong backing from Teheran, is the most powerful force in the new Iraq. And yesterday its leader, Hakim, proclaimed that the ruling Shiite religious coalition would not allow any modifications to the divisive Iraqi constitution.

It was, of course, the decision to allow such modifications by the new Iraqi “permanent” government that convinced some Sunnis to participate in the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum and then the Dec. 15 election. Now SCIRI has slammed that door shut.

This should not be a surprise. The United States would be better off abandoning its angry Shiite religious allies and throwing it support into trying to build a coalition between the secular Sunnis and the secular Kurds. At present, our 160,000 troops are propping up a pro-Iranian, fanatical power center in Baghdad. This is one of the major scandals of the Iraq war.

The New York Times, in one of those shocked-shocked editorials, calls Hakim’s comments an “incendiary threat,” and it adds:

An irreconcilable split between Iraq's Shiites and Sunnis would leave the Shiites even more dependent than they are now on Iran and American troops.

Get that? “Dependent … on Iran and American troops.” A real worry here is that as the U.S.-Iran crisis evolves, and particularly if the United States or Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities, the United States will find itself fighting not only Iran, but an alliance between Iran and southern Iraq. Heck of a job, Bushie.