And We're Back: Enduring America at Full Service

Actually, we didn't go away. A big thanks to Ali Yenidunya, who did such a great job looking after Enduring America that Mike Dunn and I are thinking of taking another week's holiday. Ali has a new analysis today of the aftermath of the meeting between President Obama and Palestinian Authority leader Mahomoud Abbas as well as an inside critique of the latest US manoeuvres with Syria.

And, as a thank you to our readers, we'll have a Sunday treat: "The Young Cons", two conservative rappers laying down the real deal on taxes, Atlas Shrugged, and Guantanamo Bay --- "Superman that socialism, waterboard that terrorism".

Iran: The People's (Facebook) Revolution

News Around the World by Enduring America on Facebook

On Wednesday, my colleague Chris Emery sent me the story that the Iranian Government had apparently blocked Facebook. That was curious because, two hours earlier, an Iranian friend had asked me via the site about my opinions on the Iranian Presidential election and the challenge of Mir Hossein Mousavi. Chris added that he, too, had been chatting with people in Tehran about the latest political developments.

So we did some cyber-checking --- Chris from Britain and I from a campsite in rural France --- and found out from our contacts that the site had been blocked on Saturday. That was not the big story, however. About 48 hours later, after much public protest, access to Facebook was restored, although no explanation for the original blocking was offered.

The immediate speculation was that the restriction was linked to the Presidential election. Months ago, when former President Mohammad Khatami was considering a 2009 bid, a group supporting him rapidly attracted thousands of members. Khatami's homepage now supports Mousavi, who in turn now has his own profile with more than 1300 fans. Mehdi Karroubi, another Presidential candidate, has a very active page with more than 2000 supporters.

(And, anticipating your question, there are several pages in the name of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, none appear to be an active "official" site, unless his primary language has suddenly become Spanish.)

Yet, while accepting that electoral politics was the proximate cause of the short-lived ban on Facebook, this misses the wider significance of the story.

For Facebook, as even the most cyber-phobic person knows, is much more than a political forum. Within minutes, you can be making up your ultimate band, discussing (and hopefully deriding) the latest Tom Hanks travesty, playing on-line Scrabble, or simply informing the world that you are angry/happy/depressed/excited/ready to hand over your children to the first person who will take them off your hands.In any country, let alone Iran, that opens up vistas of knowledge, discussion, and debate. For those immersed in politics, much of it may seem it far more trivial than a Presidential campaign, but these are the exchanges of everyday life.

Which is why, in my opinion, it would be a misreading to treat this Facebook movement as an uprising against the Islamic Revolution or even against the current Government (the real or imitation Mahmoud Ahmadinejads have several thousand supporters). Taking advantage of the opportunities offered by social media does not lock someone into a particular political, economic, or religious point of view.

Instead, the Facebook revolution is one of dialogue and engagement. It may face further bumps along the political road, but a return to a full block is unlikely. The illusion that Iran is cut off from "the West" --- just as the illusion that Iran is or should be just like "the West" --- is now well and truly shattered.

Fight the Power: Rapping for Lower Taxes and Waterboarding

Straight up. Two freshmen at Dartmouth College, "Serious C" and "Stiltz", having grown up on the mean streets, have styled themselves as "The Young Cons". They take on the authority of the man (especially the man seeking same-sex marriage) with lines like "Taxes are the subject and I will spit them verbally", "EVERYONE can succeed cause our soldiers bleed, daily", and "Superman that socialism and waterboard that terrorism."

Just think of this as the love-child of Vanilla Ice and Sarah Palin.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkeZ2P4SiY8[/youtube]

(Powerline, which salutes the "wit and learning in equal parts" of this duo, are asking for additional lines for the rap. Enduring America has made its initial contribution, and we invite readers to join us in this political-musical quest.)

Video: Secretary of Defense Gates on North Korea's Nuclear Programme

The Obama Administration appears to be pursuing a delicately-balanced response to North Korea's nuclear and missile testing, putting out stern rhetoric but refraining from any action that might escalate the crisis. On Saturday, it was Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' turn. He told the Asian Security Summit in Singapore that the North Korean programmes were ""a harbinger of a dark future", but he that Pyongyang was not a direct military threat to the United States "at this point" and there were no plans for an American military build-up.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Damascus Matters: Syria, the US, and the New Middle East

Video: Palestine Latest - Settlements and Blockades but No Reconstruction
After The Obama-Abbas Meeting: A Palestinian Stuck between Washington and Tel Aviv
Video and Full Transcript of Obama-Abbas Meeting (28 May)

Much has changed in US foreign policy since the Bush Administration pulled its ambassador from Damascus in 2005 to protest Syria's suspected involvement in the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Since the advent of the Obama Administration, not only the hopes of change in US-Syrian relations but the quest to unblock the Palestinian-Israeli peace process has brought the prospect of dialogue.

The latest signal came on Thursday when two Democratic Congressmen, Senator Edward E. Kaufman of Delaware and Representative Tim Waltz of Minnesota visited Syrian President Assad. According to Syria's official Arab News Agency, talks focused on "the necessity to remove obstacles that hinder relations and to promote stability in the Middle East". Specifically, the exchange points to a visit to Damascus by President Obama's envoy George Mitchell in June.

The Kaufman-Waltz visit is the fourth by US officials or legislators since January. Three days after the hard-line statement of the new Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, “Peace will only be in exchange for peace.”, Democratic Representative Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts and Republican Bob Inglis of South Carolina, met Assad.

Assad's comment after this meeting that he wanted to meet Obama personally was matched by the US Embassy's statement that the talks were constructive on Syrian-Lebanese relations, security on the Syria-Iraq border, and the situation in Gaza. On 5 May, two senior US officials, Jeffrey Feltman and Daniel Shapiro, made their second journey to Damascus in two months and found some “common ground” with the Syrians.

The 2nd Feltman-Shapiro visit was particularly significant as it came on the
same day that Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met to re-confirm their ‘strategic alliance.’ Contrary to the claim of many that this was a declaration of Syria's "strategic needs" being met by Tehran; Assad's manoevure was more a temporary alignment with no advance on the "road map" of the Palestinian-Israeli and Syrian-Israeli peace processes. In the absence of tangible steps, Damascus is covering itself against any unilateral concessions.

Hence, the second visit of Feltman and Shapiro was needed to maintain close contact between Washington and Damascus until the peace process could be restarted. Other regional leaders have also contributed. On May 11, the Jordanian King Abdullah visited Damascus, as he and Assad affirmed the need for a comprehensive solution on the basis of Israeli and Palestinian states in a regional context. The newly-appointed Syrian ambassador to Ankara said on 12 May that Damascus was ready to resume Turkish-mediated indirect talks with Israel, despite Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement that he would not cede the Golan Heights.

In contrast to the Bush Administration's attempt to get the "right" Middle East through exclusion of those whom it did not like or trust, the Obama Administration in four months has rebuilt relationships with key leaders. Still, the outcome of those initial breakthroughs awaits an even bigger signal: the US President's speech in Cairo next Thursday.