Too Many Lives at Stake
Yesterday, representatives from the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, the so-called P5 + 1, met but failed to agree on a new package of incentives for Iran. The most...
View ArticleWhat’s ElBaradei Up To?
IAEA Director General Mohammad ElBaradei has again shown whose side he is on. Less than a week after the Permanent Five and Germany issued a statement announcing a new incentives’ package for Iran,...
View ArticleNegotiating 101
Barack Obama complained yesterday that the Iranians “have been unable to get to ‘yes’” on his proposal that they send their low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment. It has evidently not...
View ArticleRe: Axis of Uranium Meets Middle East Peace Process
How many Middle Eastern leaders have to visit Brazil in one month for the U.S. State Department to figure out something’s going on? More than three, apparently. After I wrote Friday’s post on the...
View ArticleSlow-Motion Train-Wreck Watch
If train wrecks really happened in slow motion, observers might have time to note carelessness and irrelevance in the human actors involved. Metaphorical train wrecks certainly afford us such...
View ArticleScoffed Power
Noah Pollak has at least found some comic relief in Obama’s “Israel ploy” with China. The old “my buddy here is crazy, don’t know if I can hold him back” routine is as well-worn a device in the...
View ArticleFlotsam and Jetsam
Noemie Emery says the elite pundits blew it in hawking Obama’s candidacy: “Could it be that The One has misjudged both the times and the country?; that he made a strategic mistake in pushing for health...
View ArticleStick a Fork in It
The Jan. 16 meeting of the P5+1 ended ingloriously. The U.S. representative said the P5+1, which will confer again by phone this month, remains committed to the “dual track” approach, in which the...
View ArticleIran Draws Closer to Nuclear Capability as World Watches
Last Friday, the New York Times ran an interesting piece by David Sanger about a puzzling element that emerged in the latest IAEA report on Iran — namely Iran’s decision to bring most of its LEU...
View ArticleIran’s Game of Negotiations
One unanswered question about the nuclear-swap deal: who provides the 120 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium fuel rods to Iran? Because that is what swapping means — Iran gives Turkey 1,200...
View ArticleWhite House Seriously Considering Ludicrous Iran Agreement
We knew this was coming. The White House has issued a statement — the perfect mix of gobbledygook and bureaucratic-speak. You have to read it in full to fully appreciate Obama’s desperation for a deal...
View ArticleMiddle East Realists vs. Middle East Fabulists
There is a clear division not only between politicians but also Middle East hands on the UN sanctions. The Washington Post sets the table. On one side is the reality-based community (not to be confused...
View ArticleThe Latest Excuse to Do Nothing About Iran’s Nuclear Plans
You could spot this one coming: The Obama administration is pushing to revive a failed deal for Iran to send some of its nuclear stockpile overseas in exchange for assistance with peaceful uses of...
View ArticleMorning Commentary
Chas Freeman’s New York Times column “Why Iran Loves WikiLeaks” is as scary as it sounds. Obama finally speaks with China about North Korea, nearly two weeks after the North’s attack on South Korea....
View ArticleMorning Commentary
Assange arrested in London, but extradition to Sweden “could take months,” reports the BBC. Despite the development, a WikiLeaks spokesman says the site will continue to release cables. During nuclear...
View ArticleRE: Curb Your Enthusiasm
I agree with Jonathan Tobin: the predicted delay in Iran’s achievement of a working nuclear weapon is the mildest of good news. For one thing, the year 2015 has figured in the CIA’s outside projection...
View ArticleMorning Commentary
China, Russia, and the EU have reportedly snubbed Iran’s invitation to visit its nuclear facilities. The trip was intended to undermine the upcoming P5+1 talks with Tehran. However, Egypt, Cuba,...
View ArticleMorning Commentary
I’m going to guess that, for President Obama, getting praised by Dick Cheney is a whole lot worse than being criticized by him. During an interview that aired on the Today show this morning, the former...
View ArticleMorning Commentary
On Saturday, P5+1 officials will meet with Iranian leaders to push them to ensure that their nuclear program is peaceful. But it looks like Iran is doing everything in its power not to cooperate:...
View Article‘Spontaneous Eruption of Pro-Mubarak Sentiment’
Here’s America’s best satirist, Jon Stewart, on the “spontaneous eruption of pro-Mubarak sentiment from everyday Egyptians trained in the art of whip-based crowd control.” The Daily Show With Jon...
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