The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

Iran's firebrand president wrapped up his landmark visit to Iraq with a bit of added swagger Monday_ insisting that U.S. power is crippling the region and portraying himself as the enduring partner of Baghdad's Shiite-led government.

The parting words and posturing - like nearly every moment of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's two-day trip - was powerful political theater seeking to emphasize Iran's growing bonds with its former enemy. U.S. officials had a front row seat. Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian leader to visit Iraq since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, had no direct dealings with American envoys or the military. But Washington and its Sunni Arab allies were high on his agenda - taking every opportunity to send messages about Shiite Iran's rising influence in the region and its special ties to Iraq's Shiite majority.