It is tempting to wonder whether anybody has bothered to ask Syria and Iran whether they want to save America and Britain from the quagmire of Iraq.

If so, the asking price for bailing out erstwhile enemies from their misadventure in the Middle East could be higher than either Washington or London can afford.

There are many reasons to doubt whether engaging Damascus and Tehran will have any practical effect on improving the situation in Iraq.

Iran could use its influence to reign in Shia militias in Iraq. Syria could help curb the activities of ex-Baathists and Sunni Muslim insurgent groups.

But both the Iranian and the Syrian governments still regard it as in their interests to see America bloodied and weakened in Iraq and therefore less able to use its power against them.

On a more practical level there is strong evidence to suggest that relations with Syria and Iran could deteriorate before they can be improved.

Both America and Britain are currently engaged in a serious diplomatic push at the United Nations to impose sanctions on Iran for its controversial nuclear programme. The Iranians have warned that such a move would seriously damage already strained ties with the West.

A similar dispute is brewing with Syria. Already relations between Damascus and the West are fraught over Syria’s continued interference in Lebanese affairs and its backing for Hezbollah, the militant Shia Muslim militia in Lebanon.

A United Nations investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, is due to report back to the Security Council by the end of the year. It is likely that senior Syrian officials or pro-Syrian Lebanese figures will be implicated in the murder and could go before a special tribunal.

A new spirit of pragmatism may be sweeping through the corridors of power in Washington and new thinking emerging in London.

But turning yesterday’s enemies into tomorrow’s allies will take more than a speech by Tony Blair or recommendations to President Bush.

Both leaders must first be prepared to rethink the whole basis of their "war on terror", the guiding foreign policy strategy for the past five years.

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