Opinion
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Editorial
Wither Iran, Or The CIA?
E
ither the Bush administration has
been taking the world for a ride or
it has allowed the intelligence com-
munity to do it.
Either way, American foreign policy is
in shambles and American intelligence
agencies have either reached a new low or
they've finally come out of the doldrums.
In five long years, the United States has
gone from a questionable invasion of Iraq
to an almost-invasion of Iran; from Saddam
Hussein's non-existent weapons of mass
destruction to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
non-weapons nuclear program. And in the
process, we have dragged the world into a
Middle East morass that has not improved
one whit under our stewardship.
On the same day this month that a U.S.
National Intelligence Estimate reversed
itself and the underpinnings of the Bush
administration mantra on Iran — the
nuclear threat of Iran's Islamic fundamen-
talist government — the U.S. Department
of Defense updated the toll of American
service members killed since the beginning
of the Iraq war to 3,873.
We reap what we sow.
The United States overthrew a despot in
Iraq, but the saber he was rattling was actu-
ally in North Korea and the "democratic"
government we established will easily fail
without our military presence. Neighboring
Iran, despite its currently empty nuclear
talk, is much better at fomenting anti-
Western hatred and terrorism than when
we started our Persian Gulf adventure five
years ago. And the sponsors of the disaster
of Sept. 11, 2001 continue to murder, train
terrorists and get bolder in the mountains
of Pakistan and Afghanistan, while the
governments of both countries are shaky
at best.
Over the years, we have alienated the
International Atomic Energy Agency, our
European allies and the United Nations.
With one quick re-assessment, we have
vindicated the Chinese and the Russians'
refusal to back our calls for Iranian sanc-
tions and left our ally Israel hanging out to
dry. Our war to establish democracy in the
Middle East has led to massive bloodshed,
fanaticism and autocracy.
The American report has frustrated
Israel, which has been backing U.S. efforts
against Iran. In essence, the report leaves
Israel as the lone defender — and main
target — of Iran's vitriol against the West.
Reading between the lines, however, sug-
gests only that Iran's nuclear capability has
been delayed, not halted. While Iran's mili-
tary nuclear program was curtailed in 2003,
the intelligence assessment says Iran will
still have the capability by the year 2015, if
not before, to make nuclear weapons.
So, where are we today and what have we
learned? Hopefully, the Bush administra-
tion has learned not to skew intelligence
assessments to fit its world view. Hopefully,
Congress has learned that partisan politics
must take a back seat to hard work and
oversight. Hopefully, the American people
have found out that ideology cannot replace
reality, and that simple answers rarely
resolve complex problems.
And, hopefully, our intelligence com-
munity has learned the lessons of past mis-
takes and has upgraded its ability to find
the correct answers.
If not, the dangerous game we Americans
have been playing will become ever more
threatening. L
Forever Chelm by Michael Gilbert
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CHAIM, COULD
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Reality Check
The Wandering Mind
0
n the shelf above my computer
All of that. But much more,
is a disk that contains the name
besides.
of every city and town in which
One night, for example, I
I have ever stayed, along with hotels and
was staying with a friend in
approximate dates.
Albufeira, a lovely Portugese
You smile. Do you think it's easy being
resort on the ocean. Bill Schmidt
obsessive-compulsive?
is now an assistant managing
I started putting the list together a few
editor of the New York Times, but
years ago and I believe it's fairly complete.
he was then on his first trip to
I won't say it's long; but if I had, say, $100
Europe. We had a wonderful din-
for every night on it, I could retire to a life
ner with a lot of wine and as we
of ease, spend my days writing novels that
sat on the balcony of our room,
no one would read and take some very nice I blurted: "You know, I bet I'm the only
trips.
member of the Mumford High School class
Lately, though, I've wondered what it was of 1958 who ever stayed here."
all about. What did it get me?
I don't know why I said that. As I
There are 8-millimeter movies that I
indicated, there had been a lot of wine
never transferred to tape or DVD and
involved; and we both burst out laughing at
haven't watched in years. Photographs and
the random remark.
guidebooks take up space in drawers and
Many years later, when Bill was a
shelves. Stamps on outdated passports. Jet
Europe-based correspondent for the Times,
lag and indigestion.
he sent me a postcard. It was from the
same hotel in Albufeira, and
it said: "I checked the guest
register and you are still the
only member of the Mumford
Class of 1958 to stay here!'
That's what it is, I think.
The shared memories that
bind us to the old friends
and family who came along
on these trips. Stories that
can still make us laugh hard
enough to cry although years
have gone by and friendships may have
faded.
The dates on the disk also are illuminat-
ed in the calendar of my memory. Ask me
what I was doing on July 30, 1954, and I'd
have no clue. But I know that on July 31 my
dad came home early from work and put
us in the car. We drove to London, Ontario,
and stayed in the Casablanca Motel.
It was my first night ever in a motel and
I was so excited I couldn't sleep a wink.
The next day, I saw Niagara Falls for the
first time and away I went from there.
The summer before he died, my dad
insisted that he and my mother had to
drive to their favorite resort on Cape Cod
"because I have to smell the ocean one
more time." So I come by it honestly, I sup-
pose.
Because of my job, I had to travel alone
much of the time and that isn't nearly as
much fun. But the dates and places on my
little disk represent all the memories I've
stored up on the road with people who
were dear to me.
Albufeira, March 1971, Hotel Sol e Mar.
Just a line of type, but a great memory.
And as we wander on our way through life
that is pretty much what it's all about. F 1
George Cantor's e-mail address is
gcantor614@aoLcom.
December 20 • 2007
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