An Iranian Who Could Balance Tehran’s Factions?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on November 1st, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
An Iranian Who Could Balance Tehran’s Factions?
David Ignatius, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — An intriguing new figure is gaining prominence in the Iranian government just as regional conflicts in Iraq and Syria intensify and nuclear talks with the West move toward a Nov. 24 deadline. The newly prominent official is Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran’s national security council. He played a key role last summer in the ouster of Nouri al-Maliki as Iraq’s prime minister. In interviews over the last few weeks, Iraqi, Iranian, Lebanese, European and U.S. officials have all described Shamkhani as a rising political player. “He is a person in the middle,” with close links to both…
Ebola Response: Coordinated But Not Cohesive
Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPolitics
Ron Klain was among the last to enter the East Room on Wednesday, the first to stand to applaud President Obama, and something of a smiling usher as more than 200 invited health and science guests filed out more than 20 minutes later. As the president’s Ebola response coordinator for exactly a week, Klain has been busy. Events suggest as much, and the president’s spokesman offers general accounts of Klain contributions when reporters keep asking, day after day. But when a journalist waved at Klain, beckoning him to join the photographers and reporters roped off along the side of…
Trende’s Tuesday Scenarios; Hagan-Tillis Close-Up; Early Voting Tallies; Rumble in the Jungle
Carl M. Cannon, RealClearPolitics
Good morning, it’s Thursday, October 30, 2014. It’s only five days until Election Day 2014. It’s also John Adams’ birthday. The brainy Founder from Braintree, Mass., came into this world — a world he did so much to shape — 279 years ago today. And on this date 40 years ago, the heavyweight championship of the world was decided in the central African nation of Zaire, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. The boxing match, held at 4:30 a.m. so it could be shown in prime time in the United States, featured two American fighters: former heavyweight champ Muhammad…
