Morning brief, Monday, May 1

If you only have time to tackle one of the weekend's must-reads, I suggest this gem by Eduardo Porter in the NYT's Business Sunday. 

It's often argued that foreigners funnel their money into the United States because it is a great investment. But for many countries, plowing money into the United States these days is not all that compelling a deal.

Poor nations are financing much of the United States' current account deficit. They are losing money in the process, and as the losses mount, they will be tempted to do something better with their cash.

Iran

David Sanger and Elaine Sciolino of the NYT teamed up to file a very necessary analysis of the Iran situation. A key strain throughout is that the Bush team's failure on North Korea has in some ways set the table for this crisis:  

While Iran denies any clandestine effort to build a nuclear weapon, it is clearly drawing on the diplomatic playbook of a country that has done just that — North Korea.

[…]

"We think the Iranians looked at the Koreans and learned a lesson," said a senior official, who would not speak for attribution on a matter of nuclear strategy.

More evidence to suggest Ahmadinejad is bungling his country's economy. Simon Tisdall looks a report (pdf) that suggest that internal forces are greater threats to the regime than the U.S. or Israel. 

Iraq

The unpleasant reality. "At this stage, very few Iraqis, even those of good will, have many fresh ideas about stopping the country's disintegration." NRO has some good news, though.

But wait, Joe Biden and Les Gelb have a new(ish) idea:  

The idea, as in Bosnia, is to maintain a united Iraq by decentralizing it, giving each ethno-religious group — Kurd, Sunni Arab and Shiite Arab — room to run its own affairs, while leaving the central government in charge of common interests. We could drive this in place with irresistible sweeteners for the Sunnis to join in, a plan designed by the military for withdrawing and redeploying American forces, and a regional nonaggression pact.

The managerial debacle on health care clinics in Iraq reminds me of what Robert Kaplan had to say about medical clinics in the April Atlantic essay:

I hadn't noticed the Army carrying out a Medical Civic Action Program for the local population, as I had seen it do in Mongolia, the Philippines, Kenya, Djibouti, and other places. No activity develops relationships (and hence intelligence assets) like treating people for disease and illness.

Elsewhere

The worst Kashmir attack in the last 2 years. Check out WaPo photos from the DC Darfur rally. The clock is "stopped" on negotiations over Darfur. There's hope in Somalia. Some see hints of conflict in last week's al Qaeda multimedia realeases. China appoints it's own Catholic Bishop, without the Vatican's approval. Merkel, soccer, and sex trafficking. Olmert rounds out his cabinet. Congo now has an election date: July 30.