In what can only be seen as a diplomatic victory for the U.S., the Russians and Chinese joined the U.S., Britain, France and Germany in agreeing to refer the Iranians to the U.N. Security Council on the issue of their nuclear program. Action by the Council will, however, be deferred until the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issues its complete report in March. This delay, apparently, was a condition imposed by the Russians and Chinese. Still, it gives some indication that, perhaps, the Russians and Chinese won't be willing to shield the Iranians from sanctions. Even though I am not from Missouri, my attitude remains the same...show me.

H.D.S. Greenway sees our options regarding Iran as limited.

A former Israeli intelligence chief says it may already be too late. He believes the Iranians already have the bomb.

Meanwhile, here are some questions for Hamas. Here are some answers from Hamas. Here are some more, even more to the point. I especially like the closing paragraphs;

Our message to the Israelis is this: we do not fight you because you belong to a certain faith or culture. Jews have lived in the Muslim world for 13 centuries in peace and harmony; they are in our religion "the people of the book" who have a covenant from God and His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be respected and protected. Our conflict with you is not religious but political. We have no problem with Jews who have not attacked us - our problem is with those who came to our land, imposed themselves on us by force, destroyed our society and banished our people.

We shall never recognise the right of any power to rob us of our land and deny us our national rights. We shall never recognise the legitimacy of a Zionist state created on our soil in order to atone for somebody else's sins or solve somebody else's problem. But if you are willing to accept the principle of a long-term truce, we are prepared to negotiate the terms. Hamas is extending a hand of peace to those who are truly interested in a peace based on justice.

Sounds pretty clear to me.

Richard Cohen agrees. We should take Hamas at their word.

Christopher Hitchens thinks this will doom the Palestinian state.

Finally, I will be providing commentary and analysis on the President's State-of-the-Union address tonight on Arnie Arnesen's show on WZMY-TV (the former WNDS-TV) in Derry, NH.