The Next Cold War

A new Cold War is upon us. Though there is no Soviet Union today, the enemies of Western democracy, supported by a conglomerate of Islamic states, terror groups and insurgents, have begun to work together with a unity of purpose reminiscent of the Soviet menace: not only in funding, training and arming those who seek democracy's demise; not only in mounting attacks against Israel, America and their allies around the world; not only in seeking technological advances that will enable them to threaten the life of every Western citizen; but also in advancing a clear vision of a permanent, intractable and ultimately victorious struggle against the West--an idea they convey articulately, consistently and with brutal efficiency.
By The Wall Street Journal
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Posted 5/4/2007 @ 16:46:42 GMTThey're Free, but Britain has been HumiliatedRelief at the freeing of the British sailors and Marines in Iran is tempered with dismay at the humiliation to which they and the country they serve have been subjected. more By Telegraph

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 16:12:17 GMTIran's Crackdown - Hostage Crisis a Distraction?Was the crisis over the cap ture of the British host ages part of a smoke screen for a crackdown on dissidents in Iran? The question is posed in Tehran as the establishment debates the future of the regime's foreign and domestic policies. more By New York Post

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 15:58:58 GMTWeakness & HumiliationThe release of the 15 British sailors and marines is naturally a relief. They were held for less than two weeks, they were not put on trial, and seemingly subjected only to psychological pressure. But now is the time for recriminations. By means of breaking international law and disregarding civilized behavior, Iran has won a famous victory. more By National Review Online

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 15:53:47 GMTWhat Should We Make of the Iranians' Behavior?It’s probably a good rule to do the opposite of anything the Iranian theocracy wants. Apparently, this government is now doing its darnedest to be bombed. So, for the time being, we should not grant them this wish. more By National Review Online

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 15:39:8 GMTWhat We Can Learn From Britain About Iran Through the capture of and subsequent announcement that it would release 15 British sailors and marines, the Islamic Republic of Iran sent its adversaries a pointed message: just as Iran will meet confrontation with confrontation, it will respond to what it perceives as flexibility with pragmatism. This message is worth heeding as the United States and Iran seem to be moving inexorably toward conflict. more By The New York Times

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 15:34:50 GMTU.S. Helped Free Iranian Diplomat, Britons Released Soon After WASHINGTON -- The Iranian diplomat released Tuesday preceding the announcement that Iran would free the 15 British sailors it had taken hostage was being held in a joint Iraqi and American facility, and was released in part because of a decision at the highest levels of the American government. more By New York Sun

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 12:10:39 GMTIran's Calculated End to Hostages DramaIt was a weirdly effective performance. Invoking the "anniversary of the death of Jesus Christ" and the spirit of forgiveness, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's mercurial president, ended a characteristically prolix press conference yesterday with a coup de theatre: freeing the 15 British sailors and marines seized by Revolutionary Guards in the northern Gulf 13 days ago. This "gift" to the British people has damped down a highly combustible situation - and Iran will be looking to claim as much of the credit as it can. more By The Financial Times

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 10:55:35 GMTThe Twenty-Five Hundred Years' WarIf a no-nonsense Greek infantryman holding the pass at Thermopylae were to be told that, 2,500 years in the future, Western constitutional states would still be facing an apocalyptic struggle with a totalitarian government in Persia, he would hardly be surprised. more By American.com

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 10:29:0 GMTIran's Intentions?Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced that Iran will release the fifteen British navy personnel held by Iran since March 23. This seizure of the hostages generated outrage in Britain and other Western countries. AEI scholars have been writing for some time about the fundamental nature of the Iranian regime, the ground rules under which it operates, and its clandestine nuclear program. more By American Enterprise Institute

Posted 4/4/2007 @ 10:49:20 GMTReza Pahlavi: Delusions of Policy MakersThe current debate on Iran seems to have reduced the question to a choice between regime change and behavior change. That is a false choice... more By Secretariat of Reza Pahlavi

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 9:50:35 GMTWhy Iran Released the HostagesThe latest looney-tune story from the left was spun by Patrick Cockburn, an intrepid reporter for London’s Independent newspaper. According to this Iranian-sponsored fairy tale, it’s all Bush’s fault. more By FrontPageMagazine.com

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 9:9:13 GMTU.S. Lets Red Cross See Seized IraniansBAGHDAD -- The U.S. military has allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit five Iranian officials who were detained in Iraq nearly three months ago on suspicion of plotting against American and Iraqi forces. more By The Washington Post

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 8:32:33 GMTHow Iran Played the Hostage "Crisis"The captured British sailors ate decent meals and were set free in business suits -- as Tehran used them to score political points on the Arab street. more By Salon

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 8:7:58 GMTBalochi Insurgents and the Iraq TangoAn April 3 ABC report discussed covert Pakistani and U.S. links to a Balochi insurgent group in Iran known as Jundallah. Stratfor has noted U.S. links to Jundallah in Iran for some time. The group's activities have served as a device for the United States to poke Iran as the two dance the diplomatic tango over Iraq. more By Stratfor

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 8:0:57 GMTTehran Likely to Pay Long-Term PriceBritish officials expected an angry rant when they heard that Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was going to give a news conference yesterday about the 15 British sailors and marines detained two weeks ago in the Persian Gulf. more By The Washington Post

Posted 5/4/2007 @ 0:2:37 GMTThe US Can Learn from this Example of Mutual RespectThe outcome of the crisis between Iran and Britain provides a lesson on how to deal with the wider international standoff. more By The Guardian

Posted 4/4/2007 @ 22:49:17 GMTIran Agrees to Probe Disappearance of Ex-FBI Agent, U.S. SaysIran said today it will investigate the disappearance of a former FBI agent, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. Responding to a U.S. request for information or help, Iran asked for more details about the missing man's itinerary, McCormack said. Iran's message was relayed through Swiss intermediaries in Iran. more By Bloomberg

Posted 4/4/2007 @ 22:4:7 GMTTehran's VictoryBy committing an act of war, Iran has simultaneously made itself look peaceful and made the West look impotent. more By National Review Online

Posted 4/4/2007 @ 21:29:24 GMTFinal Humiliation for Great BritainThe British sailors held captive by Iran were told they can fly home, after being released as a 'gift' to Britain – but not before Tehran humiliated them one more time. The 14 men and one woman were paraded in front of TV cameras and were even asked by a clearly delighted Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: 'How are you? So you came on a mandatory vacation?' more By Metro

Posted 4/4/2007 @ 17:34:56 GMTWill the Ayatollah Win -- Again? In the Shiite theocracy of Iran, the people elect the parliament and president, but the nation is not a democracy. That is because a 12-man Council of Guardians -- half of whose members are clerics appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei -- vetoes candidates and nullifies legislation. more By TownHall.com