There's an Award for This

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy's characterization of the regime of Iran as playing "a stabilizing role in the region" has been contravened by the regime of Iran. Executive designate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the destruction of Israel, as he has several times before, and even though Ahmadinejad's malediction was qualified — adding "at this stage an immediate cease-fire must be implemented" — Monsieur Douste-Blazy was driven to censure. In a series of statements broadly addressed to Tehran, the minister expressed what might translate as "Keep your mouth shut for more than a couple of days when we compliment you."

Now, diplomats are known to euphemize, not so much to hallucinate. The problem of how Iran's regional and global machinations carried out by a passel of contracted terrorist organizations represents stability, then, can be solved by supposing Douste-Blazy considered how long the Khomeinists have been at work — almost thirty years — and thought "reliable, damned reliable."

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