Grab Bag

A few days ago I mentioned the false story circulating about the Iranian government’s proposal to make non-Moslems wear some form of colored identification. That story turned out to be a pack of lies written by Amir Taheri. I speculated that the story was an attempt to lay some groundwork so that the administration could refer back to “evil deeds” perpetrated by Iran and thus build the argument for some kind of attack on said evil doer. Of course I was speculating when I suggested that the administration was involved in the scam. Well maybe I wasn’t too far off. It turns out that Taheri has been invited to the White House to give Bush the benefit of his “honest advice” on matters pertaining to Iraq. I wonder whether they’ll chat about Iran too.

On Iran: isn’t it pleasant to see Bush do a U-turn on Iran? Condi Rice has announced that the US is willing to enter into talks with Iran if the latter gives up its nuclear program. This is what those Old Europeans have been pushing for a while. It’s amazing what collapsing popularity will do to a President’s steadfast attitude.

Finally: wish Mr Paulson well. He’s decided to go to Washington and take over the Treasury Department from the appalling Mr. Snow. He’s a deficit hawk. Or at least he was until he drank the Bush cool aid. He arrives at a time when the international markets are showing signs of fretting about the US deficit. I doubt whether he’ll make too much immediate difference, but at least he speaks the language of the markets. Maybe he can buy some time while Congress and the Administration attack the deficit. Then again maybe there isn’t that much time!