I just ran in to the Australian Ambassador to the United States at the Sydney International Airport, where I’m about to depart for Los Angeles. More when I get back to the U.S.

Michael Ledeen — who once told me that he only supported the Iraq War because it provided momentum and pre-positioning of American military forces to then go after Iran — is not going to feel self-actualized until America unleashes a considerable portion of its arsenal against the nation and people of Iran.

I’m not very culturally literate, and it took my table partner at the ongoing Australian American Leadership Dialogue to tell me that the erudite, bald-headed guy speaking eloquently and convincingly about sensible strategies to confront climate change was a former lead singer of the group Midnight Oil, Peter Garrett.

My blogging colleague, Juan Cole, who publishes the blog, Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion, will be speaking at a forum I am chairing next week at the New America Foundation. He will be speaking about his just released book, Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East.

I’m into the second day of an extraordinary set of meetings, the 15th annual Australian American Leadership Dialogue, staged in Melbourne, Australia. They are extraordinary because of the seriousness and general candor of discussions ranging from climate change policy challenges to the mess in Iraq to brewing issues in Asia and with China.

This blog entry was posted on Senator Chris Dodd’s campaign site today but was also written for publication as a guest post by Senator Dodd on “The Washington Note” and “Huffington Post.

I shared some views on Saudi Arabia’s steely-eyed, unsentimental assessment of the deteriorating situation in Iraq and the consequences of America’s decline in the region with this Radio Free Europe journalist, Abubakar Siddique.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just shot a cannon blast across the bow of John Edwards’ presidential campaign.

Hm. NOAA is undertaking a mission to map out areas to claim in the American extended continental shelf. Of course, unless the U.S. ratifies the Law of the Sea convention, the mission’s findings are absolutely worthless.

Steve just called in from Spectacle Lake via satellite phone to make sure readers have not abandoned TWN in his absence. He’s happy to report no run-ins with any bears thus far but is prepared to fend them off with his self-taught Davy Crockett maneuvers. Apparently the wilderness air does wonders for strategic planning.