Today's Headlines and Commentary

Let's begin with Iranians blowing things up: Three Iranians were detained in Bangkok yesterday after a series of bombs went off in the heart of the city. Thai officials assert that the bombs were intended for Israeli diplomats, but Iran has denied any involvement, says the AP. The Bangkok Post informs us that the Thai government has begun extradition proceedings for another suspect who was arrested in Malaysia in connection with the attacks. The New York Times reports that the evidence linking the terrorist attacks in Bangkok to recent attacks in New Delhi and Tblisi "suggest that Iranian leaders are responding frantically, and with increasing unpredictability, to the tightening of [economic] sanctions by the West." Afghan President Karzai says "the U.S. and Afghan governments have begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban," reports the Wall Street Journal. The Times states that Karzai is in Pakistan with hopes of exploring "how Pakistan could help foster peace negotiations with the Afghan Taliban." Just in case you harbored the delusion that this would be simple, CNN reports that the Taliban has denied its participation in peace talks. In Af-Pak-Iran news, the Express Tribune reports that the three countries have begun talks on a range of issues at a trilateral summit in Islamabad. According to the Times, "a moratorium . . . on transferring detainees to some of the Afghan government’s detention facilities has been lifted and transfers have resumed. . . . The transfers were suspended in the wake of a devastating report from the United Nations that found evidence of routine human rights abuses and torture at 16 detention centers." The AP has more on this story, reporting that "the drawdown of NATO forces in Afghanistan will make it increasingly more difficult to find out if prisoners transferred to Afghan authorities are being tortured." Speaking of people who blow things up (or would if they could), Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is set to be sentenced in federal court in Detroit today, says Dina Temple-Raston of NPR. The AP also has the story. Mary L. Dudziak, professor at USC, argues in this op-ed in the Times that nothwithstanding American "hope[s] to end its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2013," these wars aren't over if we continue to engage in and justify indefinite detention. Richard A. Clarke frets in the Wall Street Journal that cyber attacks could spark real wars: "hacking could escalate to the use of conventional force in the Middle East . . . and the critical infrastructure in the U.S. is still not ready for a sophisticated nation-state cyber attack." And if you thought active-duty Navy Seals would never appear in a fictionalized account of, oh, say, real Navy Seal missions, don't miss today's Moment of Zen: