NOTHING TO SEE, NOTHING TO SEE - AT 1:50 P.M. ET:  From The Times of London:

A triumphant President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad opened Iran's first plant for producing nuclear fuel today, marking a significant leap forward for his controversial nuclear programme and sparking international fears that the Islamic Republic may be closer than ever to acquiring an atomic weapon.

Just two months before crucial elections in which he is pitted against a powerful moderate candidate, the hardline Iranian leader celebrated the breakthrough in his country's pursuit of nuclear technology, saying that Iranian scientists have tested two new types of enrichment centrifuges with a higher capacity for producing uranium. The President has insisted that the nuclear fuel will be used only for generating electricity, but the international community fears that it could also be used to build nuclear warheads.

COMMENT:  And our tough response?  Asking Iran to talk to us, pretty please.  Any great sense of urgency about Iran's nuclear program left with President Bush.

Oh, and please note the use of "moderate" to describe Ahmedinejad's opponent in June's presidential election.  He is not a moderate.  He just sounds more moderate.  This is an old game in that part of the world, but the American and European left will herald his election, if he's elected, as a breakthrough, and a tribute to Obama's diplomacy.  It will be nothing of the kind.  He will continue the nuclear program unimpeded.

April 9, 2009