Josh Marshall: "Complimenting Anthony Shadid's work is almost redundant. But he's got a wonderful piece about a not very wonderful subject in tomorrow's Post: the growing Iranian ascendence in the Middle East."

That Wonderful piece includes gems like these:

" 'The United States is the first to be blamed for the rise of Iranian influence in the Middle East,' said Khaled al-Dakhil, a Saudi writer and academic."

"Added Eyal Zisser, head of the Middle Eastern and African Studies Department at Tel Aviv University in Israel: 'After the whole investment in democracy in the region, the West is losing, and Iran is winning.' "

"In an attempt to contest Iran's influence, the United States has sought to form an axis among Sunni Arab states it considers moderate: Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and smaller countries in the Gulf. "

So the US has invested in democracy in the region by supporting Israel, the Egyptian dictatorship and Saudi monarchy.

New York Times

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — European governments are resisting Bush administration demands that they curtail support for exports to Iran and that they block transactions and freeze assets of some Iranian companies, officials on both sides say. The resistance threatens to open a new rift between Europe and the United States over Iran.

Regarding Iran -as regarding the Chinese "threat"- I'm with Europe and the rest of the world. Josh Marshall the American 'internationalist" is with America, Israel and a few of the most reactionary anti-democratic governments on the face of the planet.