When elephants fight, it is only the grass that suffers
Safa A. Hussein
►http://www.bitterlemons-international.org/previous.php?opt=1&id=132#540
“Saudi Arabia with its narrow sectarian and political structure cannot cope with a Shiite-led government in Iraq, and has thus practically resigned from the competition. The Saudis may be the strongest ally of the US, but other Arab allies have also avoided actively engaging Iraq for similar reasons. Iran and Turkey, on the other hand, have actively engaged, filling the gaps that the US cannot—and its allies are not willing—to fill.
The Saudis still do not have an embassy in Baghdad, while since the fall of Saddam the Iranian and Turkish ambassadors have been very active in reaching out to Iraqi political and social figures and facilitating mutual visits for politicians, businessmen, and common people. It takes one month (and probably a bribe) for an Iraqi to get a visa to Syria or Jordan, while he can get his visa to Iran in a couple of days, and to Turkey in 15 minutes at Istanbul airport. Turkish trade with Iraq is approaching ten billion dollars, while Iranian trade is growing to five billion dollars, thereby exceeding by far the amount of Iraqi trade with all Arab states.”