Unintended consequences of bad judgment on Iraqi invasion.

[heidler1]

Ahmadinejad is the first Iranian president to visit Iraq, and his two-day trip highlighted one of the unintended consequences for Washington after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the Iraq that ousted Saddam Hussein from power.

Under Saddam, a Sunni who once led an eight-year war against Iran, the two countries were bitter enemies, but Iraq's new Shiite-dominated government has deep ties to Iran's cleric-led Islamic republic.

Ahmadinejad was warmly received by Iraqi President Jabal Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, and other Iraqi leaders. He said Tehran and Baghdad are "brotherly" nations who share many beliefs and values.

"Of course, dictators and foreigners have tried to tarnish and undermine the emotional relations between the two states," he said.

After meeting Sunday with Talabani, who told the Iranian leader to call him "Uncle Jalal," Ahmadinejad drove through the U.S.-controlled Green Zone to visit Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite, at his Cabinet offices.