Thoughts on Diplomacy, and Everything Else

Diplomacy is so funny sometimes. I never realized how amusing it is until I began to read the news everyday. Some of the statements I read by politicians really baffle me. In today’s news Iranian President Ahmadinejad released statements on Interpol’s issue of five arrest warrants of Iranian citizens suspected in the 1994 bombing in Argentina. Interpol can issue warrants, and last year it issued over 2000, but it cannot force the country housing the accused to arrest them.

Iran slammed Interpol’s accusations against five of its citizens, saying that the police force is being dragged into politics. Last August, in retaliation of the warrants, Iran issued warrants for five Argentines, saying they were a threat to Iranian security. I hope this sounds vaguely familiar. After the U.S. labeled Iran’s Qods Force, the elite branch of their army Revolutionary Guards, as terrorists, Iran responded by branding the U.S. army and the CIA as terrorists.

All of this diplomatic discourse gets so tiring. Of course I understand the need to preserve state security as well as maintaining relations with other countries, but sometimes the things states do seem so unnecessary. Would Iran really be seen as weak if they just let the Interpol thing slide? They know they have the choice to arrest them, isn’t it diplomatic enough to just ignore the ruling? Even more importantly, since Iran seems to be hurt that Argentina would implicate them in the bombings, wouldn’t it be a better show if Iran handed over the suspects in a cooperative manner? I guess that just wouldn’t fall in line with Iran’s personality.

I’m sure someone will tell me that I’m missing the bigger picture, but I think it unimportant to spend a lot of time analyzing why Iran wanted to respond in such a way to Argentina. I really think I would be the worst diplomat because I would just dismiss everything as being silly. I’ll leave it to others to handle those kinds of things, haha.

Like most women, I go through little phases like twice a year when I promise myself that I’m going to lose 10-15 lbs. And this month is one of those times. Since winter is coming on, its time for me to do a bit of warm clothes shopping…but who wants to try on clothes with a flabby body? Thus my 10-15 lb goal over the next month, and my subsequent reward of spending Alex’s money on cute clothing! (Shhh, I hope he doesn’t see this!)

So, if anyone has any weight loss tricks up their sleeve, including healthy eating or exercise tricks, feel free to shoot me an email or leave a comment on the blog. It doesn’t seem like many people do dieting here, probably because the women naturally have great figures until they are old enough to not care anymore, so I won’t be getting any good advice here.

Speaking of clothing, Alex and I happened to take a friend’s advice and go to a little place called Bourj Hammoud. It is an Armenian district in Beirut, and it is basically streets of strip malls. The clothing was the cheapest we’ve found in Beirut, at least for the above average quality of clothing. Alex was able to get a nice black wool suit, tailored and everything, for 100,000 Lebanese lira (approx $65). I didn’t do any personal shopping, but I was impressed with what I saw. Now I’m starting to feel a little more at home!

Also making me feel a little more at home are the plans Alex and I are involved in for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately we will not be able to celebrate the wonderful American celebration of Thanksgiving, and we will miss seeing turkeys made from silhouettes of hands, pictures of Native Americans and pilgrims, the orange, brown and yellow colors of the season, and of course all the great food. But we are going to do our best to have a big gathering for Thanksgiving – co-planned with a German friend. Yes, he is German, but he says that he loves Thanksgiving….it works.

So, I have one more favor to ask. Send us your favorite Thanksgiving recipe to give us some ideas for a buffet variety. We’ve got the turkey and stuffing on the list, as well as a pumpkin pie, and sides like potatoes and veggies. Thinking about it just makes me really happy! Can’t wait to hear from you!