Via the New York Times: Anti-Syrian Minister Is Assassinated in Lebanon.

Also from the New York Times, Sunday's Week in Review section: Envisioning U.S. Talks With Iran and Syria

IN Washington these days, an idea the White House once treated as anathema is suddenly gaining currency: to sit down and talk directly to Iran and Syria.

Tony Blair is recommending it. The Iraq Study Group headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton may do so, too. With Iran intent on pursuing its nuclear program and with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia unable to stabilize the region, there may be no other choice.

But if the White House chose to talk directly to Iran and Syria, what would those two want, and what possible areas of agreement could there be?

Discussions about Middle East politics remind me of a bit from a comic, Pearls Before Swine. One of the characters is a Zebra, who can't understand why the lions keep eating his fellow Zebras. So, he writes a letter to the lions filled with philosophical questions about peace, understanding and the nature of being, asking why can't they all get along, why can't they be friends..

The answer comes back from the lions "we eat Zebras becuz you taste gud."

One of the main reasons why we've been so ineffective against the mob politics in Syria, Iran, Hezbollahland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia etc. is the way we allow ourselves to be distracted by their propaganda and by our own desire for peace. We don't pay enough attention to their goals and their actions.

If we listen to their propaganda, we can tell ourselves that we're dealing with a group of people who are motivated by religion and philosophy. We're fighting an ideological war.

If we pay attention to their actions, we realize that we're dealing with a bunch of gangsters. They're well-organized gangsters, funded by millions in oil money, but they're gangsters all the same. They want more money and power (as much as they can get), and they use guns to get them. Some are knuckle draggers and some wear suits and move money, propaganda and religious dogma around.

If the Gottis and Gambinos had wised up to the power of multicuturalism, leftist self-loathing and the multitude of hiding places provided by the skirts of religion, they could have ruled the world.

If we try to compare Middle East politics to our own political system, we're confused. If we compare MENA politics to the mob wars in Italy, Russia, Ireland or New York, they make a lot of sense. You have some families, and some groups who ally with other families and groups when it's convenient for them. They all want a bigger slice of the pie. You've got some pro-democracy types fighting for the rule of law.

In these Mob Nations, all groups put family and community first, but most are willing to make deals with other organizations - unless they have more guns or money than the rest. There are also 'holy men' who lie about their motivations, who dupe gullible people into being martyrs. We can call it taquiya or just old-fashioned subterfuge. They're at war with us, lying and deceiving is their job.

These organizations fight with us for the same mundane reasons all aggressors fight - they don't want a slice of the pie, they want the whole thing. It's our job not to be fooled by them - or by ourselves.