Larissa at Raw Story has a new Iran report. She writes that on orders from Cheney and Rumsfeld, the terrorist group Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) is being used for special ops in Iran to pave the way for a military strike.

According to all three intelligence sources, military and intelligence officials alike were alarmed that instead of securing a known terrorist organization, which has been responsible for acts of terror against Iranian targets and individuals all over the world - including US civilian and military casualties - Rumsfeld under instructions from Cheney, began using the group on special ops missions into Iran to pave the way for a potential Iran strike.

"They are doing whatever they want, no oversight at all," one intelligence source said.

The propoganda never stops. Bloomberg reports a State Department official is saying Iran could produce a nuclear bomb in 16 days, "if it goes ahead with plans to install thousands of centrifuges at its Natanz plant."

Josh Marshall:

Seymour Hersh, whose new article on Bush formulating a plan to attack Iran I wrote about yesterday, was on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer this morning.

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Check out these transcript highlights (received by e-mail from the show):

Why Hersh believes Bush feels compelled to attack Iran

HERSH: The word I hear is messianic. He thinks, as I wrote, that he's the only one now who will have the courage to do it. He's politically free. I don't think he's overwhelmingly concerned about the '06 elections, congressional elections. I think he really thinks he has a chance, and this is going to be his mission.

Is the U.S. capable of attacking Iran now?

Seymour Hersh' new article in the New Yorker, The Iran Plans, is a must-read. It makes the case that Bush wants regime change in Iran and is making plans for a major air strike against the country.

There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush's ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change.

An official of the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal says preliminary autopsy results show Milosevic died of a heart attack.

Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been found dead in the detention centre at The Hague tribunal. An investigation has been ordered, but authorities do not believe it was suicide. He had heart problems, and while his lawyers had asked for him to be transferred to Russia to obtain treatment, that request was denied.

Mr Milosevic faced charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged central role in the wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo during the 1990s. He also faced genocide charges over the 1992-95 Bosnia war, in which 100,000 people died.

His lawyer comments in this article.

Citing humanitarian concerns, Vietnam has commuted the death sentence of an Australian citizen to life imprisonment. The sentence had been imposed after a guilty verdict for trafficking one kilo of heroin.

According to competent authorities, stemming from its humanitarian policy, Vietnam's president has signed a decision to commute the death penalty to life imprisonment for Nguyen Van Chinh."

Why can't Singapore and Bali see the light?

What a great city. I haven't seen a newspaper or tv, or read my e-mail since last Wednesday. Here are some quick Amsterdam takes:

The coffeehouses. There are a lot of them. I went inside this one just to snap a picture of the merchandise.

Drugs are not legal in Amsterdam. There is a policy of tolerating marijuana and hashish use, which allows the businesses to be licensed and taxed. What's interesting is that there is almost no visible police presence in the city, despite having a red light district and so many coffeehouses. I haven't seen a policeman yet and very few police cars. Obviously, permitting the use of pot has not resulted in the city becoming a haven for criminals or terrorists.

larger version

The 'Bali Nine' are learning their fate in Bali this week. Two have been sentenced to death. The rest, who were mules, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Renee Lawrence cooperated with authorites and prosecutors asked for her to receive a 20 year sentence. The judges sentenced her to life as well.

Boycott Bali. A country that sentences teens with no prior record to life in prison and young adults to death is a country with an inhumane system of justice that does not deserve to have tourists -- or your dollars.

The old threads are closed on the anti-Muslim cartoons. Here's a new one. The San Francisco Chronicle today reports on what's behind the Muslim outrage.

And you knew it wouldn't be long -- here come the t-shirts.

Are the cartoons the cause of the continued violence, or were they the final straw? Ahmed Abu-Laban, the Muslim Cleric who began the cartoon protest now says:

This protest is not about the cartoons, offensive as they are," he said. "The cartoons are merely the final drop that caused the cup to overflow. The Muslim faith has been under attack for years. There has been intense psychological pressure on Muslims. We have heard Western politicians relate our faith to terrorism, over and over again, and it is too much. This was the response."

He also says he's "crying for Denmark."

[But he] also said Danish officials brought the crisis on themselves by not responding to initial protests and that he didn't feel responsible for the way the dispute had developed.

The violent reaction to the publication of anti-muslim cartoons is growing and spreading. The United Nations, European Union and Organisation of the Islamic Conference have joined forces to plead for calm. The Prime Minister of Denmark said today it is a global crisis.

Update: Newsweek has a new article on the proposed Russian compromise.

**********
Condoleeza Rice, on behalf of the U.S., saying "there's not much to talk about," and France have rejected Iran's request for talks over their nuclear program.

First Post (UK) says the neo-cons are behind the stand-off. Simon Jenkins in the Guardian writes the U.S. has picked a fight it cannot win.