So how many bloggers caught this little tidbit?

BAGHDAD - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has secured a pledge from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to help cut off weapons, funding, and other support to militiamen in Iraq, US and Iraqi officials said yesterday.

General David H. Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, said there were signs of a slight drop in the types of attacks associated with Shi’ite militants since the deal was reached last month, and he dangled the possibility that US and Iraqi officials might be able to do something in return. But he said it was too early to tell whether there has been a real reduction in Iranian support.

“Honestly, and I really mean this, all of us would really welcome the opportunity to see this, confirm it and even - in whatever way we could - to reciprocate,” Petraeus told reporters on a visit to the Baghdad neighborhood of Karada. “But it really is wait and see time right now still.”

Iranian officials have made no announcement of such a commitment and could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday. But they have consistently rejected US accusations that members of the elite Al Quds force of the Iranian National Guard are stoking the bloodshed in Iraq by supplying advanced weaponry and other help to rogue Shi’ite militiamen.

We’ll see how sincere Petraeus is when the orders come down that the airstrike on Iran is operative. Let’s not forget that Saddam was busy slicing up missiles and trying to negotiate a flight into exile when Bush ordered the Shock and Awe matinee in Iraq. Nothing Iran’s President does will stop a similar attack on Iran if Bush and Cheney are convinced already that it must be done.

Now let me introduce you to a journalist recently turned blogger. Say hello to Keith, a Bad American, from northeastern Ohio.

Bad American’s dug up a couple of informative articles and put them together in one post. One’s about Mike Gravel criticizing simultaneously the Kyl-Lieberman bill, the Democrats who went for it like they’d found a half-price special hooker, including Hilary. (A more apropos name would be the Kill-Bleederman bill, doncha think?) And the second is a Der Spiegel interview with Seymour Hersh, which serves as a nice complement to Hersh’s latest in the New Yorker, yesterday.

Go read them both, including the links, and come back around to tell me what you think.

Me? I think it all means that:

1) We’ll be hard-pressed to block the Bush-Cheney certain intent to bomb Iran. And nothing Ahmadinejad does will stop them either.

2) Jim Webb is proving to be the most competent new Senator we got in 2006 and his influence is bound to rise for calling this one exactly right.

3) I don’t think Gravel’s a highly adept campaigner (his first YouTube video was too weird, for example) but he’s definitely no flake. He doesn’t hesitate to level with anyone, conventional campaign wisdom be damned. I’m going to call him a first tier candidate because his record as a Senator is Best in Show and his truthiness is unquestionable. I may not agree with every one of his proposals but he’s been so right so often that I’ll consider the possibility that my few disagreements might be because I’m not as wise as he is. (Likewise, I’m moving Richardson and Dodd to the first tier and most everyone else is second tier in my estimation.)

4) Hersh’s condemnation of the NY Times’ war coverage is exactly right. His assessment of Bush is also right, and scary:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What interest does the White House have in moving us to the brink with Tehran?

Hersh: You have to ask yourself what interest we had 40 years ago for going to war in Vietnam. You’d think that in this country with so many smart people, that we can’t possibly do the same dumb thing again. I have this theory in life that there is no learning. There is no learning curve. Everything is tabula rasa. Everybody has to discover things for themselves.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Even after Iraq? Aren’t there strategic reasons for getting so deeply involved in the Middle East?

Hersh: Oh no. We’re going to build democracy. The real thing in the mind of this president is he wants to reshape the Middle East and make it a model. He absolutely believes it. I always thought Henry Kissinger was a disaster because he lies like most people breathe and you can’t have that in public life. But if it were Kissinger this time around, I’d actually be relieved because I’d know that the madness would be tied to some oil deal. But in this case, what you see is what you get. This guy believes he’s doing God’s work.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So what are the options in Iraq?

Hersh: There are two very clear options: Option A) Get everybody out by midnight tonight. Option B) Get everybody out by midnight tomorrow. The fuel that keeps the war going is us.

And his assessment of this country as a whole is also true, and very sad:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: If the Iraq war does end up as a defeat for the US, will it leave as deep a wound as the Vietnam War did?

Hersh: Much worse. Vietnam was a tactical mistake. This is strategic. How do you repair damages with whole cultures? On the home front, though, we’ll rationalize it away. Don’t worry about that. Again, there’s no learning curve. No learning curve at all. We’ll be ready to fight another stupid war in another two decades.

4) And that American blogger is definitely way Bad. Better keep an eye on that there Keith feller.

Meanwhile, back at the Project for the New American Empire, Inc….
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