Trolling for ayatollahs and other Iranian support, Nouri al-Maliki popped up in Tehran this week to find Khameini and Ahamdinejad both  in fine form, railing against Western and American influence in the region. Not to be outdone ...

Maliki returned the favor by declaring that “Iraq pursues increasing relations with Iran in all fields.” According to Iran’s official English-language agency, PressTV, Maliki also praised Ahmadinejad’s recent trip to Lebanon: “During your visit to Lebanon, the Zionist regime [of Israel] was on high [military] alert, which proved they are really cowards,” he declared.