Word: messes
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...Hamas, which is based in Damascus and funded in part by Iran: Let's rile up the Israelis and start a crisis. Let's change the subject from the Iranian nuclear negotiations. At the very least, let's lay down an opening marker in the negotiations: If you mess with Iran, we have a multitude of ways to mess with you. Just a theory, of course. "We really don't have any real idea about what goes on inside that government," a senior U.S. diplomat told me recently. But it's not implausible, either. "My sense was that Khamenei didn...
...ploy, it might well backfire. The Israeli response has seriously damaged Lebanon economically. The Lebanese patchwork of constituencies that governs the country may now conclude that it can no longer tolerate a heavily armed Hizballah substate in the south. And if it can be proved that Iran instigated the mess, the members of the U.N. Security Council might be nudged toward a tougher stance on the nuclear issue-and the threat of international sanctions, which could have terrible consequences for Iran's oily economy. But it is also clear now that a major consequence of George W. Bush's disastrous...
...into their pockets for Labour. One of the men, entrepreneur Sir Gulam Noon, claimed he had been encouraged to omit details of a $460,000 loan to the party from his application form. The police have indicated that they may quiz Blair in the course of their investigation. "This mess was inevitable," says Labour M.P. and former Europe Minister Denis MacShane. "The Tories had a deeper war chest and we needed money to fight them mano a mano. The only solution is state funding for parties...
...that way, and Washington is handicapped by its unwillingness to negotiate with four of the key players--Hamas and Hizballah, Syria and Iran--whose interests would have to be addressed. But crises can sometimes provide opportunities, especially since the U.S. can't afford to have another Middle East mess on its hands. At this point, U.S. intervention can't undo the reasons Israel and its enemies fight. But doing nothing is an even bigger risk. And summers in the Middle East can still get a lot hotter...
...fact, with its nuclear dispute unresolved and the risk of confrontation with the U.S. still looming, Iran can ill afford to play an active role in the escalating crisis. The top leadership in Tehran is focused on settling the nuclear issue diplomatically, and fears that if the mess in Lebanon spreads, Iran's thorny negotiation track with the West could be derailed altogether...