Michael Yon has a graphic report from Iraq, embedded with the British troops:

As we rumbled through the dry, desert heat, the smells of Iraq

Mark Danzigerisn’t very impressed with “foreign policy experts.”

I think that we should take the same attitude toward the current regime in Iran that Reagan did to the Soviet Union–“They lose, we win.”

[Update a couple minutes later]

Oh, and here’s the latest insanity from the UN–Iran and Syria are leading the disarmament commission. And we’re supposed to take this institution seriously?

And here’s an interesting (albeit glum) report on what Iran is up to in Iraq:

it’s not just the Sunni Arab neighborhoods that need attention. Radical Shia outfits, like the Iran backed Mahdi Army, have also become more aggressive. The pro-Iranian groups have been losing strength, mainly because Arabs don’t trust the Iranians. Despite sharing religious beliefs (most Iranians, like most Iraqi Arabs, are Shia), Iraqi Arabs know that the Iranians despise them, and are still unhappy with the results of the 1980s war. In that conflict, Iraqi Shia Arabs fought for Saddam against Iranians, and fought the Iranians to a standstill, and a ceasefire. This was a humiliation for the Iranians, who had walked over the local opposition for thousands of years. But the Iranians have money, weapons and technical assistance for Iraqi Shia Arabs willing to cooperate. All the Iranians want is more chaos inside Iraq. This makes Iraq weak, and less of a threat to Iranian ambitions in the region. While some of the pro-Iranian Iraqi Arabs believe they have a chance of turning Iraq into a religious dictatorship (like Iran is), most know they are being played, and paid. You take the money. Jobs are scarce. But Iran is still the enemy. Always has been, always will be.

More evidence is piling up that Iran has, as many intel specialists have long suspected, been supporting some Sunni Arab terrorist groups, as well as Shia Arab ones. There are dozens of Sunni Arab terrorist groups, scattered all over the physical and political map. Apparently Iran helps out Sunni Arab terrorists who are less likely to slaughter Shia. There are parts of the country where the only targets are Kurds and Turkomen (both Sunni) or Christians (a rapidly disappearing, via migration minority). Iran has long had problems with Kurds, Turks and Christians, and does not mind killing them.

In the wake of the hangover over their latest national embarrassment on the world stage, John O’Sullivan asks if Britain is finally becoming un-Dianified.

In the wake of the hangover over their latest national embarrassment on the world stage, John O’Sullivan asks if Britain is finally becoming un-Dianified.

In the wake of the hangover over their latest national embarrassment on the world stage, John O’Sullivan asks if Britain is finally becoming un-Dianified.

An interesting discussion on women in combat, and a discourse on the last microcosm of the Cold War, on the Korean peninsula.

Robert Turner says that Nancy Pelosi could be prosecuted under the Logan Act (subscription required). It seems like an open-shut case to me, but this Justice Department would never do it, of course.

It’s an ongoing mystery to me, actually, why the Bush Justice department treats Democrats with kid gloves. Berger gets a slap on the wrist, Jefferson still hasn’t even been indicted. Doesn’t exactly sound to me like the legal arm of a fascist regime.

[Update]

It seems to me that if the Bush administration was clever, the president would magnanimously issue a preemptive pardon to Madam Speaker (for this one incident, not blanket), but not to any of the Republicans who went. It would make the point without the Justice Department having to do anything at all, and it would be hilarious to watch the donkeys scream about it.

But, of course, the Bush administration isn’t noted for cleverness.

Maybe the Democrats believe that Iraq has nothing to do with Al Qaeda (they do, after all, believe lots of nutty things), but they don’t seem to have persuaded Al Qaeda.

Claudia Rossett isn’t very impressed with Nancy’s Excellent Adventure, either.

[Update at 4:30 PM EDT]

Austin Bay says that this isn’t “shuttle diplomacy”–it’s muddle diplomacy.

Claudia Rossett isn’t very impressed with Nancy’s Excellent Adventure, either.

[Update at 4:30 PM EDT]

Austin Bay says that this isn’t “shuttle diplomacy”–it’s muddle diplomacy.