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Beirut -- For Iran to become the dominant power in the Middle East, the United States and the region's majority Sunnis would have to disappear. That's not soon likely, so expect more tension as Iran and the U.S. go at each other.
Of course the West should send representatives. Given the Bush administration's declared passion for democracy and its taste for hardball politics, it would be unforgivable not to exploit this opportunity to provoke splendid irritation in the Kremlin.
If corruption were the sole qualification, FIFA and the United Nations would be interchangeable. But international football--sorry soccer--doesn't camouflage its divisions with hypocritical unity. And since there is money to be made in that, by all means let's can the UN.
Tighten how financial transactions can be monitored, assure privacy where there is reasonable doubt of innocence and applaud the New York Times. Terrorists may have once been impeded by blanket monitoring, but now honest depositors like me are paying the highest price.
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