American on Trial in Iran- where's the liberal West's condemnation?

Today's newspaper brought word that Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old with dual American-Iranian citizenship, was arrested in January and is now on trial in Iran for spying on behalf of the United States.

The New York Times reports,

An Iranian judiciary official said Tuesday that the trial of an American journalist accused of spying for the United States had begun on Monday in secret, and that a verdict was expected within two weeks. The journalist, Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old with dual American-Iranian citizenship, was arrested in January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But last week an Iranian judge brought the far more serious charge of spying for Washington.

Note that the trial is "in secret." So where, we must ask, are the anti-Guantanamo forces? Where's their outrage and anger? Why are they now silent?

Ms. Saberi is being held in Evin prison in northern Tehran. Her lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorasmshahi, refused to speak to reporters, saying he was not authorized to talk about the case until after the trial. The trial comes at a sensitive moment in relations between Iran and the United States. President Obama has expressed a willingness to talk with Tehran after years of strained relations under the Bush administration.

"Sensitive?" To whom? Does this mean the US will keep silent when one of its citizens is in a circus trial so as to not upset proposed discussions with the mullahs in Tehran?

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that the United States is “deeply concerned” about the espionage charges and has asked Iranian diplomats for help in obtaining Ms. Saberi’s immediate release.

Here's the report from The New York Times.

Saving Captain Phillips - Not your ordinary terrorism story

The "Easter Sunday rescue of cargo ship Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates is a tribute to his personal bravery and the skill and steel nerves of the U.S. Navy." So says an editorial in today's Wall Street Journal On-line, and I couldn't agree more.

While not terrorism in the typical sense, the pirates did succeed in terrorizing their captives, and paid the price for it. The greater issues are the rules of law on the high seas, and for how much longer will piracy be tolerated. If the surviving pirate is tried in the United States, incarceration appears to be in the cards. If in Kenya or elsewhere in Africa, we're not too sure.

Somali pirates are turning the high seas into a state of anarchy not seen in a century or more. They'll continue to terrorize innocents until what we call the "civilized world" demonstrates that they will suffer the same fate as the pirates who made the mistake of kidnapping Captain Phillips.

Read the full article.

Starbucks and the Jihadis

Starbucks Coffee shops are in for it in the Middle East. There's a video making the rounds of the Internet that has a Muslim cleric calling for the boycott of Starbucks because its logo is, ready for this, an image of Queen Esther, the "queen of the Jews."

Anyone with some Internet access could search Starbucks and its logo and quickly find that the logo image is that of a Siren, not from Israel, but Greek mythology. C'mon guys, get your act together.

Watch the video.

Jeff Jacoby writes: In Israel, a voice of realism

Jeff Jacoby writes,

"IF AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN'S first speech as Israel's new foreign minister did nothing else, it certainly vexed the media."

The Associated Press called it a "scathing critique of Mideast peace efforts" that had diplomats "cringing," while other reports said Lieberman had "dropped a political bombshell," "sparked an uproar," "repudiated a key accord," and "reinforced fears." The New York Times pronounced Lieberman's remarks "blunt and belligerent," describing the foreign minister as a "hawkish nationalist" who is "not known for diplomacy" and heads an "ultranationalist" party that is "seen by many as racist." Headlines summed up Lieberman's debut as an attack on peacemaking: "Lieberman dashes peace hopes," "Israeli official hits peace efforts," "Lieberman dumps peace deal." Links as in original.

Jacoby believes those fears are wrong. Lieberman is advancing a peace agenda, but one "with the respect and realism it deserves." In other words, no lip service to peace but a need for the Road Map to be strictly followed.

Is that too hard to do? Maybe because the Palestinians are yet to deliver on a single item of the Road Map. Is it too late for that too happen now?

Read "In Israel, a voice of realism"

Hezbollah Doesn't Have Wings

A silly heading in the April 1, 2009 edition of the WSJ On-line's Best of the Web caught my attention. How else can you respond to In That Case, We'll Have the Mozzarella Sticks but by clicking on the link. When you do that, you wind up at Commentary Magazine's Contention where Michael J. Totten discusses a recent British government decision to talk to the "political wing" of Hezbollah, an organization officially designated a terrorist group by the civilized world.

According to Totten,

"A few weeks ago Britain decided to unfreeze “diplomatic relations” with Hezbollah, and the nonsensical phrases “political wing” and “military wing” have been used to describe the Iranian-backed militia ever since. Britain now says it’s okay to meet with members of Hezbollah’s “political wing” while maintaining the blacklisting of its “military wing,” but these “wings” don’t exist in any meaningful sense."

The concept of "wings" in terror and other violent organizations is not new. For instance, the IRA had a military and a political wing. Hamas has both, too.

However,

"If Hezbollah were actually two distinct entities with separate policies it might make sense for British diplomats to do business with one and not the other, but that’s not how Hezbollah is structured. Of course Hezbollah’s fighters and members of parliament aren’t the same individuals, but Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of the entire organization."

Go figure what goes through the minds of politicians around the world, I cannot.
Read the full article.