the collapse of the President’s Iran policy

* TP (vid):

"President Bush gave a speech this morning to the general assembly of the United Nations. Moments afterward, former Bush speechwriter David Frum said the speech represented “the collapse of the President’s Iran policy.” “When Iran does succeed in going nuclear, this speech will seen as a turning point,” he said."

* amy:

"The Canadian government has acknowledged for the first time that one of the most well-known victims of CIA extraordinary rendition is a completely innocent man. "

(more here)

* sam gardiner (via drum):

"If the experience of 1979 and other sanctions scenarios is a guide, sanctions will actually empower the conservative leadership in Iran. There is an irony here. It is a pattern that seems to be playing out in the selection of the military option. From diplomacy to sanctions, the administration is not making good-faith efforts to avert a war so much as going through the motions, eliminating other possible strategies of engagement, until the only option left on the table is the military one."

irony.

* laura:

"Terry Gross's interview with Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, who believes Armageddon is coming soon, is extraordinary. Doesn't sound like Rice's "birth pangs of a new Middle East" was an improvised statement, but code meant to nod to these folks. He also believes that the people of New Orleans were punished by God with hurricane Katrina because the city was going to host a gay pride parade and was awash in sin."

* the AP in France reviewed Sibel's film. my rough (mostly machine) translation is here.