Mideast III: Making a Bad Situation Worse

SHIITE-SUNNI URBAN RENEWAL

The Middle East always has been a topsy-turvy place, but the combination of the war in Iraq and what passes for diplomacy in the Bush administration has produced this rather amazing result:

The U.S. supports the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, which is dominated by Shiites in a country that is overwhelmingly Shiite, but has allied itself with Sunni governments in the region such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Something's gotta give, right?

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Photograph by John Moore/Getty Images