Are You My Friend?

As Yogi would say, it feels like "deja vu all over again"..... "Britain Takes Case Against Iran to U.N."

Yes, following the crooked script for disaster in Iraq, the Brits have asked the U.N. Security Council for action. They want them to "deplore" Tehran's seizure and "detention" of 15 Royal Navy sailors and marines, demanding their immediate release.

This declaration of condemnation is being resisted. The dispute is over whether the Brits were operating in Iraqi or Iranian waters.... Russia and others aren't taking the Brits "proof" that they weren't operating in Iranian waters. Iran offers "proof" that they were.

Iran says the whole thing can be resolved if Britain admits it made a "mistake" and crossed into their waters. They also suggest that without such an admission, they might have to take legal action, suggesting they might put the Brit captives on trial.

Meanwhile, the buzz in Russia and much of Europe is that Bush and Blair are primed for confrontation with Iran. Perhaps coincidentally, today our head of national counterintelligence, Joe Brenner, warns that Moscow is intent on gaining insights into "the upper echelon of U. S. decision-making.... back to Cold War levels in their efforts against the United States."

Makes you wonder if Russia isn't on target about the our military buildup on the Iran border since our own counterintelligence is saying Moscow's intelligence is pretty good, a Cold-War level threat.

All of this saber rattling comes at a time when The Decider can count his international supporters on..... well, I was going to say one finger, but Blair is leaving office this July, and his successor may not be so enamored of Bush's enemy-making colonialism. They've been there, done that.

"Wait," you may say. We have other allies, especially the Saudis in the Middle East.

Think again. The Decider wanted to honor his Saudi friends, so he scheduled a mid-April White House gala for King Abdullah. But, Abdullah suddenly cancelled offering an Emily Post "prior commitment" reason.

Just another warning that the politically-weakened Bush's "friends" are distancing themselves. Jim Hoagland's "Bush's Royal Trouble" reports that "Bush and his senior advisers were not convinced" by the vague scheduling excuse, "especially since it followed Saudi decisions to seek common ground with Iran and the radicals of Hezbollah and Hamas instead of confronting them as part of Rice's proposed 'realignment' of the Middle East into moderates and extremes."

Adding insult to injury, Abdullah gave a warm welcome to Iran's President Ahmadinejad in early March. It was just a few months ago that the Saudis were championing the realignment approach.... now the Saudi's national security adviser regularly visits Tehran and Moscow.

Let's face it, Bush and much of his administration are in way over their heads.... dragging the country into incredibly dangerous waters.