Jack sent me an article from MSNBC that had this great picture of an Anbar province Iraqi shiek having a cigar with a US military commander.  The article went on to describe how the US is making friends with the Sunnis of Anbar.  I found it all ironic and just another rotation of the short-term US spotlight on various Iraqi ethnofactions in order to curry US domestic short term political gain.  Then again, I'm opinionated and jaded.  First, no-fly Kurds, then appeasing the Shia majority, now, pretending like minority Sunnis give a crap about the US just to appease surrounding Sunni states (Egypt, Saudi and the gulf emirates, and Jordan).  At least they're getting closer to getting neighboring buy-in, only 4 years too late.  They'll turn against us just like all of them do as our support wanes with our political tides.


Lucian Read / Atlas Press for Newsweek Smoking Buddies: Marine Lt. Col. Craig Kozeniesky shares a cigar with Sheik Shakir Saoud Aasi, one of his new tribal allies

The much bigger and historic news is the diplomatic meeting between us and Iran this weekend.  I'm literally agape at the whole thing, given the rhetoric on both sides, but it's much more of a real path to stablizing the region than a cigar/hooka exchange.  This story's already faded from the front pages, which is also telling as to how serious the US populace and media consider the breaking of a 25 year diplomatic freeze.