Zoellick Threat to Resign

According to the New York Times, Bob Zoellick, the Deputy Secretary of State, has threatened to resign. His threat came before Hank Paulson was nominated to be Secretary of Treasury, and Zoellick's threat may have been part of a campaign to get himself named Treasury Secretary. Or, it may signal genuine unhappiness at State. His main portfolio seems have been Darfur, which is a political tarbaby with little chance of success, while his main expertise lies in economics. If he should leave State soon, it would be a bad sign for Rice. Zoellick is a serious, intelligent official, who has held senior positions in several administrations. If he's uncomfortable working with Condi Rice, it says something bad about her.

Iran Deal Is No Big Deal

Whatever we were doing to try to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons was running into a dead end, where we were either going to have to invade Iran or let it go on about its proliferating business, as we have allowed North Korea. Since North Korea poses relatively little threat to Israel, we have allowed it to continue its nuclear program, with only a few lackadaisical, desultory meetings to give the appearance of concern, regardless of what threat North Korea may pose to US troops on the peninsula or to the South Korean population.

Israel, however, is much more concerned about Iran than North Korea; so, to please the American Jewish Lobby, we have to at least look like we are trying harder than we are with North Korea. Thus, this latest gambit of America's apparent willingness to join face to face negotiations with Iran. But, there are so many conditions with the Iranians, and so many disagreements with the Russians and Chinese, that it seems unlikely to go anywhere. Which is what hardliners like Cheney and Rumsfeld want. What the hardliners and the Jewish Lobby want is to blast the Iranian nuclear sites to smithereens. This "negotiation" offer is just a speed bump on the way to invasion, just as going to the UN before invading Iraq sort of appeased American doves and European "allies." The hawks are still looking for an opening. Fortunately, the US invasion of Iraq has become such a disaster that it will make invading Iran more difficult politically than invading Iraq was.

Full UN Report on Torture Criticizing Guantanamo

This link opens the full pdf version of the UN report criticizing the US for Guantanamo.

Article on Jewish Lawyers

This is an interesting article on how Jewish lawyers moved from small, Jewish law firms to large, mainstream, Protestant "white shoe" law firms representing large corporations.