Richard Whalen

Every imperial power enjoys an historical “moment” of ascendancy when its inhabitants and the world at large recognize a new hegemonic power. World War II turned the U.S. into an imperial power, and we fought a four-decade long Cold War against the Soviet empire to establish our hegemony. Our Vietnam mistake undermined U.S. global leadership, but we recovered – until Iraq.

Now many Arabs fear Iran is pursuing the vision of a reborn Persian Empire, and their apprehension prompted them to come to an uneventful American-sponsored Mideast summit meeting in Annapolis in late November. A Palestinian who attended gave a New York Times’ reporter this explanation of the Arabs’ state of mind: “They worry that Iran and its allies act as if this may be the beginning of the end of America’s moment in the Middle East.”

The fear is well-founded. The American public and the Congress are weary of the Iraq war, now longer than World War II and as divisive as Vietnam. The Iraq war has served as a holy cause for recruiting local Iraqi Jihadists, eager to expel “the Crusaders and Zionists.” The war has also greatly increased the influence of the Iranians, both with the timid fellow Shia regime installed in Baghdad by the Americans and with the Shia who control strategic, oil-rich Basra in southern Iraq that generates 80 percent of Iraq’s oil revenues.

What will happen when the 150,000 American troops leave Iraq is the subject of highly secret talks being held in Baghdad’s Green Zone between American and Iranian mid-level diplomats. An American diplomat with decades of experience in the Mideast says these talks are proving to be “quite business like.” He believes the U.S. must restore our global leadership and rally our allies toward a broader Mideast strategy.

Iran has not had formal diplomatic relations with the U.S. since 1979. The Islamic Revolution then seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, along with 44 American hostages whom they held for more than a year and a half. In 1980, the U.S. instigated a CIA-funded Iraqi war against Iran that lasted eight years and caused one million casualties.

Now the non-Arab Iranians enjoy unprecedented sway over war-torn Mesopotamia, the heartland of the Arab world – and the Iraqis resent it. They are Arabs first and Shia and Sunni second and they know that the arrogant Persians consider them subhuman. Iran also wants the territory around Basra. “The impatient Persians overestimate their influence, and are in for some rude surprises,” says the veteran U.S. diplomat monitoring the talks over the future of Iraq. “Precisely because we Americans know we are outsiders, and are willing to be useful while we stay, we are enjoying some leverage over the Iranians.”

The American moment in the Mideast may be prolonged the sooner we retire from the quagmire of Iraq, a non-nation incapable of being raised to the standards of 21st century democracy. Other states in the region, especially Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the smaller oil-rich emirates, will rejoice at America’s liberation from Iraq and Washington’s greater ability to concentrate on shared regional concerns.

Such a scenario would fulfill America’s true, momentous global role.