Israel.

Turkey.

The Taliban.

Just sayin’….

Clinton has dogged Obama for saying that he would meet with leaders of Iran, Syria, etc. in his first year in office. She said it’s “naive and irresponsible” to do so. But she also continues to say things like this (from the transcript):

And I also think it’s important to send that message to the region, because I think that Iran, Syria, the other countries in the neighborhood are going to find themselves in a very difficult position as we withdraw. You know, be careful what you wish for. They will be dragged into what is sectarian divisiveness with many different factions among the three main groups. Therefore, we need to start diplomatic efforts immediately getting the Iranians and Syrians and others to the table. It’s in their interest, it’s in our interest, and it certainly is in the Iraqis’ interest.

Obama should have come back and nailed her on this. He could have said, “how are you going to bring Iran and Syria to the table when you think it’s irresponsible to meet with them?” He could have even gotten in one of his signature zinger jokes, like, “man that’s going to be one empty table” or something. It would have instantly been the most memorably line of the night, and unlike other joke lines that get endless play the day after, this one would have been a substantive foreign policy critique that would have played right into Obama’s wheelhouse.

Ultimately, I have to disagree with both parties, and with both non-interventionist Democrats and neo-conservative Republicans. America’s involvement in the world should be based on America’s national interest. All other considerations are less important. Was the covert war propagated by Wilson in America’s best interest? Yes. Was America’s neglect of the post-Soviet occupation Afghanistan in our best interest? Hell no.

I think this is right. However, I would quibble with Wilson’s idea that U.S. support for the mujahadeen was “glorious, and then we fucked up the end game.” It’s not that we fucked it up — it’s that we never had it in mind. Giving the Soviets a black eye in Afghanistan was the end game. If the goal was to rebuild Afghan society, we’d have supported the rebels who were interested in such things. But those rebels sometimes thought it was wise to cut deals with the Soviets if the result was a better life for their people, and so they lost our (read: Wilson’s) support. Instead the U.S. (with the Pakistanis and the Saudis) chose to support the most brutal, nihilistic mujahedeen and, as a result, the Taliban flourished.

The only way to do it right would have been to make the mission explicitly about helping Afghans. But if the mission was about helping Afghans, Congress would have never funded it. This is the paradox of American foreign policy.

All of this is well-documented in Ghost Wars, if you’re interested.

.The technology allows users to invade communications networks, see what enemy sensors see and even take over as systems administrator so sensors can be manipulated into positions so that approaching aircraft can’t be seen, they say.

Clearly the Syrians haven’t upgraded to Vista yet, or this surely wouldn’t have happened.

(via Kevin Drum, in case the link above doesn’t work)

*(**) It makes sense then that Rupert Murdoch is contributing to Hillary’s campaign — one more Republican and Fox News won’t get any scoops at all.

** Hey, Bill Strunk*** — does it make sense to asterisk a one-sentence paragraph? Just asking.

*** (You douche!****)

**** (I’m totally kidding — you’re totally not a douche*****.)

***** (Plus, you died in 1946.)

Vice President Dick Cheney repeated his assertions of al-Qaida links to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq on Thursday as the Defense Department released a report citing more evidence that the prewar government did not cooperate with the terrorist group.

Cheney contended that al-Qaida was operating in Iraq before the March 2003 invasion led by U.S. forces and that terrorist Abu Musab al- Zarqawi was leading the Iraqi branch of al-Qaida. Others in al-Qaida planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“He took up residence there before we ever launched into Iraq, organized the al-Qaida operations inside Iraq before we even arrived on the scene and then, of course, led the charge for Iraq until we killed him last June,” Cheney told radio host Rush Limbaugh during an interview. “As I say, they were present before we invaded Iraq.”

Inside the White House, he drafted a new policy for aggressively pursuing trade in unconventional weapons, one that goes far beyond export controls. It became the “Proliferation Security Initiative,” a plan now supported by both Democrats and Republicans that creates a web of countries that use their national laws to cooperate in intercepting shipments.

When the new effort hit early pay dirt in the fall of 2003, intercepting a cargo ship bound for Libya with nuclear centrifuges built by Abdul Qadeer Khan’s nuclear smuggling network, it led to Mr. Joseph’s biggest success: working with American and British intelligence officials to persuade Libya to give up its nuclear program, which helped break up Mr. Khan’s network.

He had a personal stake in the Libya negotiations: In 1988, Mr. Joseph had nearly taken Pan Am Flight 103, which Libyan terrorists blew up, and in his dealings with the Libyans he said he periodically saw the faces of the passengers whom he watched waiting to board that plane in London. [Emph. added]

Assuming this isn’t some kind of literary device, do we mean to take from this that he was literally getting ready to board the plane when for some reason he couldn’t? That’s like something out of the best suspense movie ever . . .

As far as I could tell, Sandler plays this Down and Out in Beverly Hills-era Nick Nolte (remember the bum sex scene? hilarious!) sort of guy who reconnects with Cheadle’s character and shows Cheadle how to live more like the college students they once were. Or something like that. In the process, Cheadle’s wife looks pissed that Cheadle stays out all night with him.

See though, in the trailer, they mentioned that Sandler’s family died but never once mentioned that they, you know, perished on 9/11. It makes Sandler’s character look less crazy — and makes Cheadle’s wife look like a big harpie! Hey, Woman, let Cheadle out — Sandler’s a 9/11 Widower!

So, question: Was this non-9/11 related trailer only shown in New York and, if so, did Sony Pictures intend to shield New York audiences from the emotional pain of hearing about a 9/11 movie? If so, who do they think they are? Oliver Stone? Paul Freakin’ Greengrass?

Followup question: This looked like a much different movie when Sandler’s family didn’t perish on 9/11. Watching the trailer I was thinking, you know, garden-variety car crash or something. And I was also kind of like, “Dude — get over it.” But throw 9/11 in there and — oh wow, you’re all a 9/11 Widower . . . ooh — impressive!

Exit question: How cheap a writing technique is this?

Exit exit question: Did the studio know that New York audiences would see this as cheap-and-easy heartstring pulling, so they adjusted the trailer accordingly?

Just asking.

A U.S. Border Patrol entry Identification Team site was overrun Wednesday night along Arizona’s border with Mexico. According to the Border Patrol, an unknown number of gunmen attacked the site in the state’s West Desert Region around 11 p.m. The site is manned by National Guardsmen. Those guardsmen were forced to retreat.

I’d hoped to have some cheeky comment about how we need to conquer Mexico in order to secure a reliable and diligent low-cost workforce … but I’m just not feeling it this am, and those are the kind of things that can come back to haunt an unsuspecting blogger.

Anyway, I find this fascinating. If I were (even more of) a cynic, I’d be drawing parallels with this and the Gleiwitz Incident. Alas! (Alas?) It’s probably just well armed and coked up drug runners, and not (another) Machiavellian plan cooked up by Cheney and Co.

A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.

The study found that more than half of the men measured had penises that were shorter than international standards for condoms.

It has led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.

How exactly did they come to this conclusion? Careful, precise research:

Over 1,200 volunteers from the length and breadth of the country had their penises measured precisely, down to the last millimetre.

The scientists even checked their sample was representative of India as a whole in terms of class, religion and urban and rural dwellers.

The conclusion of all this scientific endeavour is that about 60% of Indian men have penises which are between three and five centimetres shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture.

And people — for the last time — the kind of “buck up, son” advice, er, appended to the piece in this “to be sure” paragraph just doesn’t help:

But Indian men need not be concerned about measuring up internationally according to Sunil Mehra, the former editor of the Indian version of the men’s magazine Maxim.

“It’s not size, it’s what you do with it that matters,” he said.

“From our population, the evidence is Indians are doing pretty well.

“With apologies to the poet Alexander Pope, you could say, for inches and centimetres, let fools contend.”

*Including variations on a “ramrod” theme, e.g., “Double your ramrod size.”

Who knows… these things are all done sub rosa, and we the public aren’t usually privy to the subtle machinations of international diplomacy (or otherwise unable to separate causes and effects of various geopolitical maneuvers).

Newsweek does say that the Bush team still thinks talking to Syria and Iran is a nonstarter:

At an earlier press conference, the president also brushed aside the only concrete proposal to have emerged from the deliberations of the Baker group: the idea of negotiating directly with Syria and Iran to stabilize Iraq. Bush and his aides believe that would undermine the sovereign position of Iraq’s government, as well as their own get-tough negotiating position with Damascus and Tehran. If the Iraqis want to talk to the Iranians, as they have in recent days, they are free to do so—and probably more effective at it, in the eyes of the White House.

The idea that Iraq can negotiate with them more successfully, though, seems like a stretch. Sure, it’s true, in that Moebius-strip way, that Bush has alienated the arab world so badly by not talking to them that he can’t talk to them. But the flip side is that this has to be about carrots and sticks, and the U.S. has far more carrots and sticks to offer Syria and Iran than the weak Iraqi state.

Looks like that may actually be the case:

Boris Berezovsky, an exiled Russian billionaire and fierce opponent of the Kremlin, confirmed today that police found radioactive traces in his offices following the death last week of his close associate, Alexander Litvinenko, allegedly poisoned by radiation.

While the association between the two men has become widely known, the discovery of radioactive traces at Mr. Berezovsky’s Mayfair offices highlighted their close ties and offered one more clue about Mr. Litvinenko’s movements on the day he first reported feeling unwell on Nov. 1.

Mr. Beresovsky, one of the most prominent and wealthy Russian exiles in London, visited Mr. Litvinenko in his hospital bed before he died. Apart from the traces at his offices, where Mr. Litvinenko was a frequent visitor, he has not been implicated in the police inquiry.

Mr. Litvinenko, a former Russian secret service agent, accused the Russian authorities of poisoning him with what the police said was an ingestion of a radioactive isotope, polonium 210. But Mr. Berezovsky pointedly refrained today from making a similarly direct accusation.

The emphasis is mine … looks like the message got through, eh?

And another thing about this. Polonium 210 is a pretty specific calling card. Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an action not just of Putin’s cronies, but of a very specific group of his cronies who really, really wanted to get themselves noticed.

Vice President Cheney will fly to Saudi Arabia tomorrow and hold talks with King Abdullah on Saturday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity over Iraq that reflects the wider scramble to shape the war-torn country’s future at a critical juncture.

The White House said Cheney will discuss regional issues but provided no details about the hastily organized mission to Riyadh. The trip, however, comes on the eve of a summit between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Jordan next week. It will also overlap with a weekend meeting in Tehran between the presidents of Iran and Iraq to which the president of Syria has been invited.

Big moves. All “hastily arranged.” What’s going on? Where’s Syria in all this?

Also on CNN is Israel PM Ehud Olmert’s visit to the White House. The Israel-Lebanon dispute, in which both Syria and Iran played prominent roles, is still on people’s minds.

And, as mentioned on this week’s podcast, the Iranian Ambassador recently sat down to a three-hour dinner with James Baker.

What’s this all mean? Clearly there’s movement. There must be some really hard-core diplomacy happening behind the scenes. Syria and Iran are state sponsors of terror. That’s no good. But they also could hold the key to stabilizing the Middle East. Will George Bush’s johnny-come-lately embrace of realpolitik outweigh his steadfast neocon idealism on dealing only with democracies? Stay tuned.

update: Read this op-ed.