The Security Council has taken the first step in what wil probably be a long process in dealing with the Iranian nuclear situation. The have issued a statement calling on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and to cooperate with the IAEA. The Iranians have been given 30 days to comply, and the IAEA will be the body that will determine if they are in compliance. I suspect that the Iranians will not cooperate, although they may persuade the Russians and Chinese that they are cooperating, which is all they need to prevent Security Council action. A British diplomat who helped create the sanctions regime against Iraq during the 1990s says sanctions might not work against Iran, even if the Security Council can get the votes to impose sanctions.

George Will states his position on the immigration issue in his column appropriately headlined, "Guard the Borders - And Face Facts, Too". I have long maintained that we must re-establish the rule of law on the borders, whether through the creation of a barrier, or some other means, but that we must also face the fact that we are not going to hunt down and deport 11 million people, many of whom have been here for years and have children who are American citizens. Will says essentially the same thing, and praises the President for standing up for the view that these 11 million people need to be assimilated into our country in a legal manner. While I understand the argument about rewarding illegal behavior, I still cannot get my mind wrapped around the consequences of chasing down those 11 million and deporting them. Let us close the border to prevent more from joining the 11 million, then deal with those folks in a humane manner.

David Warren in his new column continues on his theme about the conflict between Islam and the West. He has come to the conclusion that as long as Islam embraces Shariah, it is incompatible with our values.

Many weeks ago I called on the Democrats, if they want to win in November, to drop the "Bush lied, people died" narrative and adopt the "incompetence" narrative. I argued that while it might not be appealing to the rabid Left, it would be more likely to get swing voters to their side. The Democratic leadership in Congress has obviously come to the same conclusion and they are now rolling out their plans, portraying the GOP leadership as "dangerously incompetent". I think this is a winning strategy, since they will certainly retain the rabid left in the '06 elections (while they might still bolt to follow a true believer in '08), and now they have a good chance at swing voters who have traditionally been wary of the Democrats, especially on national security issues. This new Gallup poll seems to verify that the Democrats are gaining ground with this strategy.