Morning brief, Friday April 28

A quick FYI on oil: We're facing a "slow-motion supply shock." Oh, and Tom Friedman is right when he says:"The sooner and the more we take the price of gasoline up — and keep it there — the sooner we can bring it down forever." Do I need a transition sentence to mention Bush's hosting of Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev today?  

Iraq 

The most powerful man in Iraq has once again done the right thing. Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has urged Nouri Maliki to disarm the militias and "rebuild these forces on sound, patriotic bases so that their allegiance shall be to the homeland alone, not to any other political or other groups."

Glenn Kessler saw Condi and Rumsfeld as being in "separate orbits." In a troubling passage, Kessler reports:

Even though her arrival here followed an exhausting sprint through Greece and Turkey, Rice appeared energized by the task at hand. Rumsfeld arrived directly from Washington — after a recent Asian tour — but he seemed disengaged and bored, both to reporters traveling with him and to some U.S. officials. Some said he seemed irritated by the whole exercise. 

Iran

Condi reassures us: "The United States of America understands and believes that Iran is not Iraq." Ahmadinejad does not "give a damn."

No surprises on the IAEA Iran report that's going to come out today. Iran is noncompliant. I wish there wa a good, short, synonym for the word "defiant," because it would make headlines more interesting.

There's an op-ed in the FT entitled "How to Avoid a Transatlantic Rift Over Iran." The (French) author thinks we ought to our best to open up Iran:

Better to hold our nose and maintain contact with the country while using information, visits, economic relations and the like in the hope that it will weaken the leadership in the long haul. After all, it worked with the Soviets. 

Not sure how that helps countries trying to stop Iran from going nuclear… David Ignatius takes a step back and asks "[H]ow do you resolve a confrontation with an adversary that appears unable or unwilling to negotiate a settlement?"

Analysts think [Iran's] reluctance to negotiate partly reflects divisions within Iran's ruling elite. Certainly the diffuse centers of power in the Iranian government make it difficult to reach a common position. But I suspect there is a deeper disconnect: For a theocratic regime that claims a mandate from God, the very idea of compromise is anathema. Great issues of war and peace will be resolved by God's will, not by human negotiators. Better to lose than to bargain with the devil. Better to suffer physical hardship than humiliation.

Elsewhere 

If you're a little confused about what going on with the whole Sudan/Chad thing right now, Emily Wax of the WaPo feels your pain, and eases it…. Britian is more intellectually exciting than the rest of Europe (not saying much, is it?)… Kinsley's case for a windfall profits tax on oil companies… Backing Chad's dictator will come back to bite us. In Egypt, still trying to figure out who bombed Dahab… Nepal's parliament reconvenes… Chirac wants the World Bank to pay Palestinian civil servants.