another news item brought to my attention by tom.

the french foreign minister visited lebanon to show france's solidarity with lebanon. from the sound bites quoted in the media he made remarks regarding iran's role in the region. he said that "iran is a key player in the Middle East and plays an important stabilizing role in the region" and  "We think more than ever than the Iranians are an important and respected actor".

maybe he meant to use "could", "should" and "would" and just forgot. maybe it was lost in translation. maybe he is just trying to fill the vacuum left by the incompetent US foreign policy and crisis handling. maybe he believes what he says.

iran could play a stabilizing role. but it is currently doing the opposite. sending money to extremists fueling violence. encouraging provocations. i can think of more stabilizing actions.

iran should be an important and respected actor. iran has the history, size, scale and aspirations to lead the muslim world. they could send money to build schools and universities in lebanon, rather than build bunkers and terrorist training camps. it could invest in infrastructure and health care, rather than invest in rockets and missiles. it could invest in growing its own economy and culture, rather than invest in building nuclear weapons. 

my guess is that the french foreign minister has read the "clash of civilizations", and is trying to apply its logic to the present situation. i think his logic is flawed, or just ahead of its time. maybe once the current radical is out of office, maybe when the ayatollahs are out of power, maybe when the muslim world will stop pitying itself and blaming the west, maybe then.