On to Iran.....

Just came across a couple of articles on Iran this morning in the big papers. Perhaps the Bush administration realizes that they are most popular when they talk about what they might do in the future rather than what they've already done. A new "threat" sure could take people's eyes of the detritus littered behind this administration's previous decisions, Katrina, Iraq, you know the list.

First we have a NYTimes article pointing out that since the Bush administration levered the Syrians out of Lebanon, the Iranians have stepped in to fill the power vacuum. So, now the Iranians have an arc of influence stretching from China's western border through Iraq and Syria to the Mediteranean. Great policy, boys.

Then there's this from the WaPo this morning, in an article talking about the efforts at "regime change" in Tehran.

President Bush and his team have been huddling in closed-door meetings on Iran, summoning scholars for advice, investing in opposition activities, creating an Iran office in Washington and opening listening posts abroad dedicated to the efforts against Tehran.

The internal administration debate that raged in the first term between those who advocated more engagement with Iran and those who preferred more confrontation appears in the second term to be largely settled in favor of the latter.

Sound Familiar? Last, Jack Straw said in an interview that military action is not an option on Iran. (Interestingly, but not surprisingly, that claim led the story on Al Jazeera whereas in the AP version, despite the headline, it was down in the fifth paragraph.)