What a bizarre circumstance this is. The irrational Iranians are behaving too reasonably.

US-Pakistani relations really didn’t need this right now. Pakistan arrested–and then released, apparently because the person’s claim to have diplomatic status checked out–an American with high tech gear allegedly snooping around a nuke lab.

Things continue to develop at the Daiichi and Daini nuclear power stations in Japan today. As you have already heard, a second reactor building exploded at Daiichi, it was the Unit 3 which had been experiencing the same problems as Unit 1, which also exploded.

What is believed to have happened is that hydrogen gas which was released along with the steam to reduce the pressure in the reactor vessel built up in the generation building and then a random spark ignited it. The building is seen to have the same kinds of damage that the Unit 1 building had.

President Obama, like all presidents, often says he “wants” or is even “fighting” for something, but in fact puts no real effort into actually making it happen. It could be he doesn’t want to spend political capital because he thinks it is a lost cause, thinks it is fairly unimportant, or even doesn’t really want it, but thinks it is smart politics to pretend he does.

That is why it is important to recognize what a president acting as a “fierce advocate” actually looks like so you can distinguish the real thing from empty rhetoric. We are seeing a what a real full-court press from the administration is when it comes to the START treaty.

  A potential victory for diplomacy is brewing in Vienna. After initial reports about Iranian nuclear talks were termed “slow,” today negotiators have reached a draft deal on shipping Iran’s nuclear enrichment to Russia for processing.   Under the draft deal, most of Iran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium would be shipped out of the [...]

Haaretz published a long piece by Aluf Benn today arguing that the nuclear proliferation is “the basis for understanding the diplomatic processes in today’s Middle East.” I think that’s a nice way to frame regional peace primarily around the Iranian nuclear issue. But the article unintentionally raises an excellent question: What the hell does ‘nuclear ambiguity‘ even mean?

Our current Beloved Glorious Leader certainly has a way of making it all about him, doesn’t he? A quick quote (and one I hope will live in infamy right up there with “Bring ‘em On and “Dead or Alive”…)”If I were a betting man, we’ll reach agreement with the Iraqis,” Bush said.