Noteworthy
Writing in the Weekly Standard, Jamie Fly and William Kristol call on the U.S. to present military measures as a way to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
But Iran’s nuclear progress marches on. That fact trumps all the administration’s hopes and wishes and theories. Facts are stubborn things, and so is the Iranian nuclear program. No one seriously believes the talks set to resume shortly in Moscow will stop Iranian nuclear progress. Indeed, the talks look increasingly like the farcical diplomatic process pursued by the Bush and Obama administrations with respect to Iran’s friend, North Korea, a “process” that has resulted in a growing nuclear stockpile in that country and a series of unanswered North Korean provocations.
Is Egypt’s Old Regime Preparing a Comeback Crackdown?
With the apparent backing of the military, for Mubarak prime minister Ahmed Shafik seems confident of a win in the presidential elections, writes Abigail Hauslohner in Time.
Shafik’s supporters are extra confident, perhaps, because it would seem that the ruling military is on their side. On Thursday, the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved the uprising’s only tangible accomplishment thus far: its democratically elected parliament, which the Muslim Brotherhood had dominated. The move swiftly eliminated the Islamists’ only center of power in a system that has yet to see a new constitution drafted or even the next president’s powers defined. And while many liberals said the military may have manipulated the verdict, they also said the Brotherhood had gotten greedy — seeking too much power, too soon, and they deserved what they got.
Israeli Settlements, American Pressure, and Peace
The Obama administration’s insistence on a settlement freeze by Israel has put the peace process back, not moved it forward, writes Steven J. Rosen for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
Obama’s strategy of confrontation over settlements, in other words, has backfired. The Palestinian issue has now regressed to the pre-Madrid situation before 1991: Palestinians once again refuse to meet with Israelis, and speak of abandoning the two-state solution and returning to armed struggle.
Media Digest:
Times of Israel: Israel must keep mum on Egypt elections, says top defense official
Haaretz: Israeli officials: Hamas ordered Grad attack at request of Muslim Brotherhood
The Jerusalem Post: ‘US should arm Syrian opposition to bring down Assad’
New York Times: Iran Will Face a Critical Choice in New Round of Talks
Washington Post: Israeli President Shimon Peres discusses Syria and Iran
Wall Street Journal: Egypt’s Revolution Stalls in Divide-and-Conquer Politics
