back to you, faisel istrabadi. could it be with what mr. kadhim is saying, a temporary move on the part of prime minister maliki to be stronger now that the american troops have left?

faisel istrabadi? >> well, the... let us remember even saddam hussein was not in 1970 was not the saddam hussein of 1979. the united states has tremendous leverage. it should seriously concern whether it is wise to go forward, for instance, with armed sales to iraq under these circumstances when sectarian violence threatens again and it should look very seriously at the economic incentive that it has to bring the government to a more democratic and constitutional need. >> woodruff: reconsider sending arms and other kinds of aid. just quickly to abbas kadhim, what can influence events, what can or could the u.s. do? >> well, the united states has influence. in fact the last chance for having real influence was in the end of june of 2004. after that, we have-- and i've said that many times in different settings-- what happens in iraq right now is the results of the influence in the regional powers. i think the keys are in iran and in saudi arabia pretty much rather than the united states. for us, we strive to use diplom

faisel istrabadi? >> well, the... let us remember even saddam hussein was not in 1970 was not the saddam hussein of 1979. the united states has tremendous leverage. it should seriously concern whether it is wise to go forward, for instance, with armed sales to iraq under these circumstances when sectarian violence threatens again and it should look very seriously at the economic incentive that it has to bring the government to a more democratic and constitutional need. >> woodruff: reconsider sending arms and other kinds of aid. just quickly to abbas kadhim, what can influence events, what can or could the u.s. do? >> well, the united states has influence. in fact the last chance for having real influence was in the end of june of 2004. after that, we have-- and i've said that many times in different settings-- what happens in iraq right now is the results of the influence in the regional powers. i think the keys are in iran and in saudi arabia pretty much rather than the united states. for us, we strive to use diplom