One of the more interesting developments is the manner in which the split within the Iraqi Shia mirrors the split within Iranian Shia. Thus, dissident cleric Montazeri dismissed Sadr's Mehdi Army, dismisses Sadr and backs sistani. But Iran's influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, on Friday hailed the Shi'ite Muslim militia of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as"heroic" for rising up against the U.S. occupation in Iraq.

None of this stopped our own Foggy Bottom specialist from announcing:

"We've seen, generally speaking, reports of suggestions of Iranian involvement, collusion, provocation, coordination, et cetera, et cetera. But I think there's a dearth of hard facts to back these things up," Ereli said."Our position, and what we've tried to make clear, is that no country, none of Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, has an interest in a destabilized Iraq," he added.

Let's hope Ereli is not blind, only diplomatic.