Despite four years of U.S. efforts to stop the sale, Russia said it will sell nuclear fuel rods to Iran. On the surface, that means either the U.S. has been lying about the threat Iran’s (potential, supposedly hidden) nuclear weapons program poses or Russia doesn’t respect the U.S. at all. The latter because any Iranian-built nuke would be directed at the U.S. or Israel long before Russia would have to worry about it, so their own profit would have taken precedent over its so-called friendship with the U.S.

Thinking beyond the surface implications of the apparent U.S. diplomatic failure…

Ever see Canadian Bacon (which I hadn’t even realized was a Michael Moore film until I looked just now)? Remember when the president (played by Alan Alda) was shopping around for a war to boost the economy? First, he asked the Russian president, who answered:

Mr. President, please. Is this why you called us here? We already gave up! You won! We are too busy trying to perfect universal indoor plumbing!

After the Russian president refused, the U.S. attacked Canada instead. If Bush presented Vladimir Putin with the same proposition Alan Alda presented to the fictional Russian president, would he accept it?