Iraq war resister Ehren Watada finally allowed to resign from the Army

Finally, an end, or at least a new chapter, in the saga of this brave young man. The U.S. Army, having failed to convict him by court-martial and having failed to convince a federal judge that he should be retried, has let Watada resign as he initially requested, citing the illegality of the Iraq war.

Meanwhile, in today's New York Times, Frank Rich ponders the parallels between JFK's dilemma over whether to escalate or de-escalate in Vietnam in the early 1960s and Obama's at least momentary hesitation to agree to the military's request for more troops in Afghanistan. A chance for Obama to avoid turning his presidency into the kind of disaster that neither Lyndon Johnson nor George W. Bush had the wisdom and the courage to avoid; perhaps Ehren Watada's courage could be an inspiration to Obama at this crossroads in history. At the very least, it should be inspiration to the rest of us.

Some good sense (and even a little knowledge) on Iran's nukes. From Scott Ridder in The Guardian. Read it, and consider that the biggest saber-rattler re Iran, Israel, is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Why not? Iran is, whatever one might think of its compliance. The hypocrisy of this situation might escape many Americans and Israeli apologists, but it doesn't escape the Muslim world.