Obama's Cairo speech redux

Obama's speech in Cairo was nowhere near so remarkable as many commentators want to insist, nor was it the dreary exercise in defeatism that many Americans who somehow get their kicks from cultivating enemies and talking tough about them considered it. Here's the Register's editorial. We suggested that the speech might have an impact on elections in Lebanon and Iran this month, and sure enough, the coalition the U.S. preferred in Lebanon got a majority, handing Hezbollah a defeat (though hardly knocking them out of the political picture). It will be interesting to watch Iran's election next week.