Listening to Ambassador Ryan Crocker describe his meeting with his Iranian counterpart, their first encounter since May 28, makes you wonder what he thought he was accomplishing:

"I would not describe this as a shouting match throughout, but we were real clear on where our problems with their behavior were, and I just didn't hesitate to let them know. It's up to them to decide what they want to do about it. ... We didn't pull our punches."

Is Crocker trying to show Bush what a tough guy he is? The idea that our problems in Iraq are caused by Iran is utterly nonsense. Iran's closest friends in Iraq are the same ones as President Bush's , namely, the Maliki regime, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), and their allies. And Iran's enemies in Iraq are also the same ones that Bush is trying to combat: Al Qaeda, the Sunni insurgents, the Iraqi resistance, the Baath party, Saddam loyalists, and, of course, Muqtada al-Sadr's independent-minded army.

Sure, Iran could help us in Iraq. They could lean heavily on Maliki and the Hakims to make a deal with the Sunnis.But why should they? Iran knows we're leaving. Iran knows that it can work closely with the Iraqi Shia leadership when we're gone.

Come to think of it, I guess that does explain why Crocker was yelling.