Today's Stories Behind the Chatter: India, Iraq, and Iran

INDIA: HOLDING BREATH AND CROSSING FINGERS

US intelligence officials are letting it be known that evidence is pointing to the responsibility of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group formed to pursue the Pakistani cause in Kashmir, for the attack. This assessment is in line with that being put out by Indian officials.

This, of course, ratchets up the temperature in relations between India and Pakistan. The Pakistani Government made clear on Saturday that it had no hand in the Mumbai assault, as President Zardari said, "My heart bleeds for India." Indian suspicions of involvement by the Pakistani military and/or intelligence services continue, however, and Pakistan has indicated that it will move forces towards the border. Islamabad also withdrew the offer to send the Pakistani head of intelligence to assist with the investigation, after opposition party protests, although "a lower-level intelligence official would go to India...at an undetermined time in the future".

On the comment front, The Observer of London, which used to be a paper of editorial sense and dignity, dismisses local and regional issues to proclaim the fight for "democracy" against "jihadists". Juan Cole's heart-felt plea to India not to repeat the mistakes of the Bush Administration, while still caught up in the context of 9/11 and the War on Terror, is far more valuable reading.

IRAQ: THE MANOEUVRES BEGIN ON THE STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENT

While the editors of The Washington Post indulge in fatuous back-slapping (the "its success in greatly reducing violence around Iraq", "the new democratic system is gaining its footing", "the Bush administration worked patiently and tirelessly to negotiate the new agreement") and Thomas Friedman reduces the country to "moderate Iraqi Sunnis against Al Qaeda and Iraqi Shiites against pro-Iranian extremists", Sudarsan Raghavan and Saad Sarhan offer one story of note:

Iraq's preeminent Shiite spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, has expressed concern about the country's security agreement with the United States, saying it gives the Americans the upper hand and does not do enough to protect Iraqi sovereignty.

Meanwhile, a rocket fired into the Green Zone in Baghdad, landing near the United Nations compound, killed two and wounded 15 others.

LAYING OUT THE "CORRECT" IRAN NARRATIVE

In the category of "I say it, therefore it must be true", David Ignatius in The Washington Post:

Iran moves closer every day to becoming a nuclear-weapons power. It views America as an aggressive adversary that wants regime change, no matter what Washington says. Dialogue is worth a try, but Obama and his advisers should start thinking about what they will do if negotiations fail.

Journalism 101: Today's Awards for Incisive Comment

HONOURABLE MENTION: THE ALL IS WELL IN IRAQ COMMENT

Marine Captain Giles Clarke writes in The New York Times of running a half-marathon in Baghdad:

As I sprinted across the finish line, though, I knew it was all for a greater good. I knew that I was contributing to something much bigger than myself. How did I know this? I just ran a half-marathon in Baghdad.

Totally Irrelevant Fact (1):

Three bombings targeting Iraqi government employees and the U.S.-fortified Green Zone killed at least 20 people and left scores wounded Monday.

Totally Irrelevant Fact (2):

Number of US military personnel who ran the half-marathon: More than 200
Number of Iraqis who ran the half-marathon: 0

BRONZE MEDAL: I LOVE YOU, YES, I DO COMMENT

David Ignatius gets misty-eyed over Condoleezza Rice in The Washington Post:

Condoleezza Rice may be the most disciplined person in this town of workaholics. She has always been the perfect young woman, pleasing and impressing others.

Dave's Afterthought:

Now the issue of U.S.-Iranian relations will be handed over to the Obama administration. "We ran out of time," says one administration official.

The Question Dave Did Not Ask Condi:

Why?

SILVER MEDAL: THE BETTER LATE THAN NEVER COMMENT

The Washington Post celebrates Presidential justice:

THE BUSH administration acted fairly and responsibly this week in deciding to release Osama bin Laden's former driver from the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and return him to his home country of Yemen.

Suggestion made by The Post:

The White House has another opportunity to do the right thing, this time in the case of 17 Chinese Uighurs held at Guantanamo.

Suggestion not made by The Post:

Anything to do with the other 235 detainees at Camp X-Ray

GOLD MEDAL: THE TRIBUTE TO CONSERVAPEDIA COMMENT

In The Washington Post, George Will joins Conservapedia's vigilant defence against Dangerous Professors, reviewing Stanley Fish's book, Save the World on Your Own Time:

Fish's advocacy of a banal proscription -- of explicit political preaching in classrooms -- may have made him anathema to academia's infantile left. The shrewder left will, however, welcome his book because it denies or defends other politicizations of academia that are less blatant but more prevalent and consequential -- those concerning hiring and curricula.

For those who can't quite make it through that paragraph, here is Conservapedia's translation:

Professor values are currently one of the most prevalent forms of Liberal indoctrination.