The new government of Iraq apparently feels sufficiently established to flex its muscle with one of its more intransigent neighbors. Clearly fed up with the uninterrupted flow of terrorists into the Sunni Triangle, the new Iraqi defense minister warned Syria that its interference in Iraq could create a volcano that would flow lava over Damascus:

Iraq's defense minister criticized Syria on Tuesday for ignoring Iraqi demands "to stop the infiltration of terrorists."

The official, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, singled out Iraq's western neighbor as among states that are slack on stopping the flow of militants into his country.

"When the lava of the exploding volcano of Iraq overflows, it will first hit Damascus," al-Dulaimi warned during a news conference to discuss an upcoming nationwide security plan.

He said militants are coming into Iraq from Syria via three routes, with the intent of targeting the Baghdad region.

Syria claims that it is trying to stem the flow of the terrorists, but the United States shares the skepticism of Baghdad. Ever since the fall of the Ba'athis regime, we have known that Bashar Assad provided dead-enders from Saddam's inner circle the sanctuary to conduct their insurgency from inside Syria. Last February, Assad got the message, albeit briefly, when he coughed up Saddam's half-brother. Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan funded and directed the ex-Baathist insurgency, but the Zarqawi network apparently still has its Syrian connections.

The fact that Iraq feels strong enough to publicly challenge Damascus tells us two things. First, Baghdad has increasing confidence in its ability to deal with Syria as equals. Second, Baghdad considers Damascus as a much lower threat than it would have before the Syrian retreat from Lebanon. Baghdad hopes to continue to increase its prestige by pushing Assad into further retreat -- and with American backing, that looks pretty realistic. It could be yet another victory in the war on terror -- the isolation of the Assad regime in Damascus.

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