When MoveOn.org ran full page ads just before the Congressional testimony of General David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker with huge headlines saying “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?“, John Bolton’s fellow travelers went great lengths to condemn Move On for its lack of appropriate respect for dedicated national security leaders.

So many have asked for a new picture of Oakley the Amazing Weimaraner and Annie the kid sister that I have this about to share. (Here is a slightly larger photo for the real fan club members) Thanks to all for the sensible, thoughtful commentary below on Comments.

I am going to enable the comment function on this blog again. But I need to say that the quality of discussion and exchange on line when I started this blog was better for the first couple of years than it is now. I want to return to the quality of that exchange.

ArmsControlWonk’s Jeffrey Lewis and nuclear weapons watcher Paul Kerr turn out to be the winners of the what-is-Iran-really-doing prize.

I have received quite a few thoughtful, sensible appeals from regular TWN readers, commenters, and emailers to turn the comments function back on. I will do so — but only after I have time to write and draft a statement of what I believe constitutes fair and worthwhile commentary on this blog.

“Should the anticipated discussions fail to clear the path to the deployment of an effective force, the international community will be confronted with hard choices: do we move ahead with the deployment of a force that will not make a difference, that will not have the capability to defend itself, and that carries the risk…

For the “bomb Iran now hawks”, the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran — just released — has probably ruined their holiday season. (here is the pdf) The report documents the high likelihood that Iran is no where near nuclear weapons capacity — and probably not pointed (at this time) in that direction.

A lot of folks slammed Jimmy Carter for using the word — but when Israel Prime Minister Ehud Ohlmert says the same thing, it just makes the problem in Israel more tangible and real.

Israel Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon Tonight, I’ll be up at the big New York confab of the Israel Policy Forum titled “Two States: A Global Imperative” and hanging out with some interesting folks — including Israel Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon and former Deputy Defense Minister and Knesset Member Ephraim Sneh.

This evening between 6:00 and 6:30 pm EST, Daniel Levy and I will be talking with Air America talk show host Sam Seder on the outcome of the Annapolis Summit and also about the state of the American economy.