I just came across an interesting letter sent to presidential candidate Barack Obama by over 100 Iowa Caucus participants from 28 different cities. I did not realize that the oldest mosque in North America is in Cedar Rapids.

Alberto Gonzales has finally received that dreaded call of firm presidential support from the White House: Alberto, it’s me, George — yeah the President. Just wanted to tell you that I know it’s hot out there, but I’m fully behind you. You are on the team, man.

Booz Allen Vice President R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence during the Clinton administration, still has his security clearance.

Pajamas Media has an “exclusive” movie review of the film, 300, by former Tennessee Senator and presidential wannabe (maybe) Fred Thompson. Thompson writes: The comic book movie 300 about the Spartans and the Persians in 480 AD is still breaking box-office records. Now it seems the rulers of modern-day Persia, Iran, are not amused.

I just got a scoop on who the next publisher of The American Conservative is going to be — and it’s an intriguing choice. I read The American Conservative because Vice President Cheney hates the publication and thinks that its editorialists run in the same gaggle of “Not-Republicans-Enough-for-Cheney” as Chuck Hagel and Chris Shays.

I think that Israel Prime Minister Olmert’s resistance to talk to the new Palestinian unity government ‘may’ be a charade disguising quite a bit of informal, off the books negotiations as everyone I speak to from the Middle East sees a deal on Palestine in the works — in about 18 months.

Yosri Fouda, an important Al Jazeera journalist who interviewed both Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, has written a very interesting note today in The Sunday Times of London on what may be driving KSM’s extraordinary admissions during secret hearings at Guantanamo Bay.

Folks, I have been off of email and the cell phone for five days as the ability to get on email was just too ridiculously expensive and difficult in Havana. I paid $8.00 to get to one unimportant email out of many hundreds.

What exactly did President Bush see when he looked into President Putin’s eyes? I recall he got “a sense of his soul.” After my post last week about Kommersant’s reaction to the death of Russian journalist Ivan Safronov, a couple of my Russian friends e-mailed me to tell me they were concerned for my safety….

Mark Lagon is one of the people in the International Organizations bureau at State who can play ball with high-level Bush appointees and still make the case for a strong U.S.-U.N. relationship.