SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:39 P.M. ET:

STRIKE ON IRAN? – A new poll reports that 44% of Americans would support a military strike on Iran, if necessary.  Another recent poll placed the number at about 49%.  So, with all the propaganda coming from the White House, Americans are taking the Iranian threat rather seriously.  Those numbers, I think, would jump if Iran was reported to be assembling nuclear weapons and placing them on missiles.

BIGGER BANG – Related to the above, the Pentagon has requested $81-million from Congress to upgrade its largest conventional bomb, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator.  The defense people say the upgrade is "urgent."  Apparently, according to some reports, the Air Force has concluded that the bomb is not powerful enough to penetrate the new underground installations protecting Iran's nuclear program. 

VISION OF THINGS TO COME – Islamist students and teachers in Egypt have stopped the production of a television show because the actresses' skirts were too short.   The show is set in the 1970s, an era of short skirts.  An Islamist teacher said that the protection of the show's participants could not be guaranteed if filming continued.  This is the old protection racket raised to a religious rite.  It is another sign that the Arab spring is turning into the Arab winter, with a heavy dose of anti-Americanism thrown in.

CALLING MAGGY THATCHER – It hasn't received much coverage here, but the ancient dispute between Great Britain and Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands is heating up again.  Argentina's president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, is accusing Britain of militarizing the islands and bringing in nuclear weapons.  The Argentinian government is also saying that London's dispatch of Prince William to the Falklands is a provocation.  Argentina recently convinced many Latin American nations to bar ships flying the Falklands flag from their ports.   The United States, under Obama, has refused to give Britain the full support over the Falklands given by previous administrations.  Surprised?

February 10, 2012