Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The story has been buried by the Western press, but Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy brings it out in an important policy paper.

Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a 42-year-old mother of two, confessed to the crime of adultery in 2006 after being subjected to 99 lashes. She later recanted her statement, but was found guilty despite the fact that there were no witnesses to her adultery, as is supposed to be required in the Iranian justice system.

Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former case officer with the CIA's clandestine service, lays out a compelling case for supporting Iran's Green Movement:

In a speech delivered today at the National Endowment for Democracy, Senator John McCain called for regime change in Iran:

With drilling now limited off the Gulf Coast, oil businesses might have even greater incentive to engage in business elsewhere -- even in Iran. This could provide a great boost to the economy of this rogue regime, unless the U.S. acts to prevent such engagements. Barack Obama and his surrogates first promised "crippling" sanctions, and have now settled on "biting" sanctions.

Just as the danger of homegrown political Islam is on display in the United States with the attempted Times Square bombing--the third attempted attack in six months--Germany seems to be recoiling to its pre-9/11 indifference toward growing radical Iranian Islam in its backyard. In late May, the pro-Ahmadinejad Imam Ali Mosque in Hamburg hosted an event with advocates of revolutionary Iranian Islam.

The State Department was reportedly supportive of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva’s visit to Tehran last weekend. An unnamed State Department official was quoted as saying the trip represented “perhaps the last big shot at engagement" in the conflict over the Iranian nuclear program. But one can well wonder whose side Lula is on.

In 1988, disgruntled former White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan revealed that since the 1981 attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life, Nancy Reagan had consulted a San Francisco astrologer for advice on scheduling the president.  This went well beyond merely affecting the start times of meetings.  As anyone who has worked for or covered a White House knows, where the president goes, who he meets with, and when, are ultimately matters of policy.  The revelation understandably caused a firestorm.  How could anyone possibly base policy on something so frivolous?

Watching foreign diplomats run circles around America’s striped pants set is always a depressing spectacle. In recent days we’ve been treated to some doozies—for instance, Iran being elected to the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women when our own (female) U.N. ambassador didn’t show up for the vote.

To say that President Barack Obama's response to the Iranian opposition movement has been tepid might be a bit of an understatement. But suppose he does assume a Reagan style posture, and uses his lofty pulpit as leader of the free world to fan the flames of opposition. Would the protesters, electrified by U.S. support, be ready to confront a regime that's perfectly comfortable leaving their bodies in the Persian streets?

Officially, at least, Washington has not given up on trying to stop the development of the Iranian bomb.  But, you’d hardly know that from what our officials actually do, no matter what they may say.

Take, for instance, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s latest trip to New York as president of America’s number one enemy, Iran.  Like all his sojourns to our shores, this one was conducted under UN auspices.

Arthur Herman has a must-read piece on Iranian nukes: "The Islamic revolutionary regime in Tehran is poised to hand the United States its worst foreign-policy setback since the fall of South Vietnam."