United States

The Washington Post reports that the U.S. and Iraq have abandoned attempts to forge a long-term security agreement. The focus is now on a "bridge document" that would provide for basic military operations after the UN mandate expires at the end of this year, and it would fall to the next administration to deal with any extended security agreement.

Story here.

Remember the anthrax terrorist? The person (or persons) who killed five people by sending weaponized anthrax to newspapers and government officials shortly after September 11th? The deadly packages included scrawled messages written in cartoon character broken English praising Allah and condemning Israel. In the minds of the public these crude letters lent terror and gut fear to the notion that frightening, dangerous muslims were attacking America from within with indiscriminately deadly weapons.

Note: I say credible because these guys aren't part of the neocon orthodoxy that informs the top people in the Bush administration, slack-jaw lowbrows like Michael O'Hanlon and Ken Pollack. Lynch and Martin are usually very interested in real discussion and engagement with the players throughout the Middle East beyond the ever-shifting borders of Israel.

Abu Aardvark (Marc Lynch)

American Footprints (Eric Martin)

From the Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain hasn't had good luck joking about Iran. But he tried it again Tuesday.

Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to
Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe thats a way of killing them."

He quickly caught himself, saying "I meant that as a joke" as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.

h/t Fatemeh at Talk Islam.

via Tim Ferriss