News of the Day (August 23)

Communist China on sending weapons to Hezbollah: who, us? Sun Bigan, Communist China's point man in the Middle East, insisted his regime "never exported arms to Hezbollah" (News.com.au), but he "could not rule out that the weapons may have been transferred by a third party" - i.e., the mullahcracy of Iran (Hezbollah's sponsor and longtime Communist ally). The Communists tried a similar "third party" cop-out when its other longtime Muslim ally Pakistan was caught sending Beijing-made arms to the Taliban and al Qaeda. For more on the Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah, see the New York Sun).

More on Communist China's Middle Eastern Proxy No. 3 (Hezbollah): As it becomes more clear that the terrorists won the cease-fire in Lebanon (Washington Times) - if not the actual war itself (Washington Times) - the discussion has moved on to what the democratic world must do when, not if, hostilities break out again (National Review Online). Meanwhile, the nature of Hezbollah continues to be debated in Canada with the governing Conservatives sounding the right notes (CBC), and a Liberal MP reminding us all why the Canadian electorate tossed them out of power last winter (Steve Janke).

Enlightened Comment of the Day: Today's winner is Barry Rubin (Jerusalem Post), who provides detailed and cogent argument against negotiating with Syria's Assad regime.

Speaking of Communist China's Middle Eastern Proxy No. 2 (Syria), Max Boot (Los Angeles Times) advises Israel to skip the symptom (Lebanon) next time and go after the nearest cause (the Assad regime). Peter Brookes (Cybercast News) calls for diplomatic isolation, but for some reason clings to the notion that Assad "should see that paling around with Tehran and supporting Hezbollah is counterproductive to the health and wealth of the regime."

On Communist China's Middle Eastern Proxy No. 1 (Iran): The mullahcracy claims to be ready for "serious" talks on its nuclear weapons development, but the regime itself is not serious enough to stop the program (Cybercast News, Washington Times). The United States is looking to impose sanctions (Ha'aretz), a move that gets two cheers from Anne Leslie (Daily Mail, UK). Philip V. Brennan (Newsmax) rightly prefers helping the Iranian people take their country back. The urgency of all of this is emphasized by Claude Salhani and Ghazal Omid (United Press Int'l via Washington Times), both of whom note that the mullahcracy is on the rise geopolitically.

Ignorant Comment of the Day: Harlan Ullman (Washington Times) practically asks for the dubious honor with this line: "Ways to contain and deter Iran and North Korea have been presented in this column using direct negotiations to determine whether intransigence can be replaced with some measure of cooperation." Has Mr. Ullman simply ignored the last dozen years?

More on the Communists' Korean colony: Stalinist North Korea tries to play the "pre-emptive strike" card against the U.S. again (Korea Liberator, Washington Times). Thailand arrests 175 Korean refugees, but if its statements are any indication, it has no intention of sending them back to SNK (BBC, Daily NK, UPI via Washington Times). The dovish South finally gets around to telling the Stalinists not to conduct a nuclear test (BBC). Daily NK has the latest on a joint Stalinist-Communist development project. The Korea Liberator reveals how the Stalinists execute prisoners.

More on Communist China and the rest of the world: The Communists' attempt to keep a lid on the findings in the Kilgour-Matas report is starting to wear thin even in the circles of the pro-"engagement" Australian government (Epoch Times). The cadres are not happy with Mongolia hosting the Dalai Lama (BBC). Meanwhile, Beijing signs a trade deal with Chile (BBC), hosts Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez (BBC), and joins up with Russia to send a probe to Mars(MSNBC).

Human Rights Watch demands an end to the Communist crackdown on lawyers: The group cited the arrest of Gao Zhisheng and the actions against Chen Guangcheng's attorneys (tenth, second, ninth, ninth, thirteenth, lead, tenth, fifth, tenth, sixth, ninth, eighth, ninth, eighth, ninth, sixteenth, and ninth items).