Mortar rain willing, there will be an international diplomatic conference in Baghdad tomorrow. Iraq, its immediate neighbors, Israel and the occupier will attend.

Some moderates have lauded this as a new approach and change in policy by the Cheney administration. But if this is serious diplomacy, we need a new word for comedy:

The official administration line, as articulated by Mr. Satterfield on Thursday before he was scheduled to head to Baghdad, is that he and Mr. Khalilzad will attend Saturday’s meeting, sit around the table with Iraq’s neighbors and talk about all the ways America and the region can help Iraq.

After four years of U.S. help (fourteen years if one includes the devastating sanctions), the Iraqis may be reluctant to even chuckle about that joke.

Even more diplomatic:

At the Saturday meeting, the Americans are scheduled to make a presentation to the overall group reiterating the oft-repeated United States accusation that Iran is providing material and training to Shiite militias that are being used in attacks against American troops. The United States also accuses Syria of allowing operatives from Al Qaeda to cross into Iraq.

Iran and Syria will be “posed with the issue of how they respond, not in a bilateral exchange, but to respond to a multilateral conference where Iraq is very much front and center,” Mr. Satterfield said.

There are rumors that during lunch former Sec-State Powell will jump from the cake and serve as dessert Anthrax vials labeled "Made in Iran – Best before Christmas."

Of course the Iranians and Syrians will have a good laugh at this while diplomats from the other nations may just yawn.

The whole show is a setup with only one intention –  to prove to the moderates within the U.S. elite that the administration is willing to do some serious diplomacy, but that Iran and Syria are unwilling to be appropriate partners.

Expect some sad editorials and grieving experts on the Sunday shows to lament how unfortunate the Iranian and Syrian approach is and how now, after serious diplomacy has been tried, only force will lead to their enlightenment.

—

PS: In case you wonder which Israeli diplomat is attending, here is the simple answer:

The second-highest diplomat at the United States Embassy in Baghdad is one of the anonymous government officials cited in an Aug. 4 indictment as having provided classified information to an employee of a pro-Israel lobbying group, people who have been officially briefed on the case said Wednesday.

The diplomat, David M. Satterfield, was identified in the indictment as a United States government official, "USGO-2," the people briefed on the matter said.