Morning Brief, Friday, September 1

Iran

The deadline has come and gone. What now? President George W. Bush tells the Veterans of Foreign Wars:

There must be consequences for Iran’s defiance.”

But Europe isn’t even ready for sanctions — yet. In Tehran, David Ignatius finds that Iranians think that America’s crisis is Iran’s opportunity. The silver lining in all this is that Iran hasn’t made much progress on the nuclear front.

Iraq

Bush and Co. continue their effort to revive public support for the war by warning of the consequences of defeat. An op-ed in the WSJ argues that, thanks to the foiled London plot, Bush’s strategy might just work. Maliki announces plans for the Iraqis to take over security of a second province from the British next month. The bad news is that more than 300 people have died in Iraq since Sunday. A set of synchronized attacks on Shia neighborhoods claimed almost 50 lives just yesterday.

Lebanon

International donors pledge $940 million for Lebanon. Gideon Rose and Sheri Berman worry that Hezbollah is winning the reconstruction, as it did the war. Charles Krauthammer claims that Hezbollah actually suffered a serious set back, citing Hasan Nasrallah’s mea culpa for having started the war. Kofi Annan tries to persuade the Syrians to stop Hezbollah from being rearmed through their territory. Meanwhile, Europe contemplate a greater involvement in the Middle East peace process, including possibly talks with Hamas. 

Darfur

The UN Security Council finally passes a resolution authorizing a peacekeeping force. But the force requires Khartoum’s consent before it starts operating, which is not going to happen. Time then for a coalition of the willing?

And in other news…

Angel Merkel, not Condi, is now the world’s most powerful woman. Lockheed Martin will build NASA’s new moon shuttle (haven’t we already been there?). China writes Mao out of the history books. European interest rates are set to rise, but America’s stay the same. Tony Blair tells critics: I’m leaving on my schedule. Gene therapy for cancer. Shinzo Abe officially announces his candidcay for the Japanese premiership.