The Mitchell-Holbrooke E-mails

As George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke, two of America's preeminent statesmen go off to solve the problems of Israel/Palestine and Afghanistan, The Foreign Desk has stumbled upon some of their correspondence.

Dear Richard,

Thanks for the lift. Hope you made it into Bagram safely. Man, this jet lag is killing me. To say nothing of the hangover. Remind me not to play drinking games with you again. Did you get the phone number of the flight attendant? Cheers, George

Dear George,

We got in fine. And no I didn't get her phone number. They changed crews while I was talking to The President. You would not believe the security here. Haven't met Karzai yet, but hope to see him after I get some shut eye. Gotta go, something just blew up next door. Richard

Dear Richard,

Not much progess to report. Netanyahu is walking around with his hat in his hand trying to form a government. It's not pretty. Gaza is still a mess. Man, I am too old for this. And I'd kill for a ham and cheese sandwich. George

Dear George,

Everyone is stoned here. Seriously. There is hash EVERYWHERE. No wonder nothing gets done. Karzai still avoiding me. I think I'm gonna have to put everyone, -- Pakistanis and Afghans on a plane and bring 'em to Washington. And what the hell is Dennis Ross up to? Someone tell him this is my turf. Gotta go. They're evacutaing the hotel. Richard

There's never a pirate around when you need one

So there is this ship that is causing a lot of headaches in the Middle East. According to reports, it's a Russian cargo ship, flying a Cyprus flag, carrying Iranian arms.

Stay with me, because this is really juicy international relations stuff.

Right now, the Cypriots have detained the ship near Limassol, the port in Cyprus, per a request from the United States.

Now the Cypriots, which are currently ruled by the Communists, are searching the ship and they're doing this because they want better relations with the United States. And there is a UN resolution that prohibits arms trafficking in the area.

So what's on the ship?

According to Israel's Ha'aretz there are Iranian arms on board destined for Hamas and Gaza. Other reports say the arms are going to Syria. The Russians claim it's just cargo.

One thing that IS certain is that everyone wishes the whole situation would disappear.

Oh...we'll be following this very closely. This could turn into the first big international incident for the Obama administration.

Who wants to start a pool that the ship never makes it any further? Any takers on an "accidental sinking?"

Whaaaat? Hey, stuff happens.

Cease fire? Please.....

There is nothing even vaguely amusing about the tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza.

But I did have to roll my eyes this morning when I read that the Israelis had declared a unilateral cease-fire and that Hamas had also declared a one week cease-fire.

Now in the arcane world of diplo-speak, where you have to read between the lines to glean the true meaning of what is being said, cease-fire doesn't really mean cease-fire. I mean, there will be a cease-fire, but in this case, it also means, "hey, we're running low on ammo, and we need to re-load."

So, enjoy the cease-fire while you can because at the end of the week, it will all begin again.