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For those seeking to negotiate the intricate and confusing plethora of information coming out of big media on the Iraq circumstances, I simply say this: Keep the navel gazing on the Iraq Study Group minutia to a minimum. Instead, look at the big picture. Whenever the "Inside the Beltway" bunch is spewing their conventional wisdom on the Sunday morning talk shows and obsessing about any given study or blue ribbon commission, it's clearly time to stop examining the "micro" details, pull back, take a big breath, and start looking at the "macro" dynamics. Rule of thumb: Conventional wisdom is bound to steer you down the wrong path. More to the point, don't let the liberal mainstream media (MSM) pull you into their disorienting labyrinth of gobbledygook.

As an aside, observing the "Drive By" MSM over time and deducing what's really going on has become something of a sport for conservatives. History repeats itself: It's reminiscent of the steady stream of propaganda -- masquerading as news - put forth by the Soviet Union for domestic purposes. Amazingly, the regular folk were able to watch and listen to the Soviet drivel, and, with experience, read-between-the-lines and come to some semblance of accuracy. It's an acquired skill. Likewise, many conservatives are fairly adept at reading through the machinations and manipulations of the partisan media (MSM) and figuring out the real-deal. The long and short of it is they correctly "interpret" the source. But I digress.

Regarding Iraq, here's the nitty-gritty that needs to be underscored: Syria and Iran have been working hand-in-glove all along to stoke the fires of sectarian violence in Iraq. Syria has been aiding and abetting al-Qaeda and the Sunni Ba'athists, while Iran has been funneling tremendous assistance to al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and other Shia factions. In the parlance of the streets, Syria and Iran have been playing both sides against the middle. They're squeezing Iraq in a vise. Why? Because they have no desire to see a stable government -- a democracy no less -- emerge in the Middle East. The originally envisioned "new Iraq" (as conceptualized by Bush et al.) would have created a wave of democratization, a synergy so-to-speak, in the region that would have directly challenged Islamo-fascism and the further development of terror groups. So the motives of Syria and Iran to thwart the new government in Iraq are twisted, but quite understandable.

As to resolving the profound violence that continues in Iraq, we essentially have a regional problem on our hands. Ultimately, troublemakers Syria and Iran must be stifled. The Iraq Study Group's floated a total of 79 recommendations, described by some as "underwhelming" and "impractical", which includes an emphasis on a new diplomatic offensive with Syria and Iran for the purpose of stabilizing Iraq and ridding it of violence. Please note that we tried back-channel efforts with Iran in recent times -- to determine if we could lay the ground work for talks -- which proved unsuccessful.

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