Diplomatic cable:
From the Head of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, Tehran
To the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran, housed within the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Washington DC
TOP SECRET. ENCRYPTION SETTING: MAXIMUM.
You are to be congratulated. SB dangles by a silken thread. But the Supreme Leader is concerned about the matter of credit. Whatever is written in the West, it is imperative that believers understand the Islamic Republic to have played the critical role. Please advise what action you will take to ensure the wider Muslim world understands that, when the moment comes, the head of the snake did not simply fall off: it was severed! Ends.
Editorial from The Guardian newspaper, London, Saturday March 25:
For the past week, the world has watched events in Washington with something like incredulity. Sixty-four days have passed since Stephen Baker swore the oath of office as President of the United States. When he did so, it was not just Americans who hoped they were about to make a fresh start. The world dared to hope too.
Yet a series of allegations, apparently timed to go off in sequence like a set of terrorist bombs, has left Mr Baker more vulnerable than would have seemed imaginable on that icy January morning of his inauguration. Extraordinarily, impeachment proceedings have begun against a president who has barely got his feet under the Oval Office table.
This newspaper deplores that effort. Republicans determined to topple Mr Baker should pause, reflecting that they will not simply be removing the head of their own government. Bombastic though this may sound, they will be depriving the world of its de facto leader. For that is what the role of US president in the twenty-first century entails.
Now is not the time. Not when the world faces so many grave problems, from bitter wars to a changing climate. And Mr Baker – who seems to understand those problems better than most – is not the right target. We are heartened by the news that one conservative Democrat on the House of Representatives judiciary committee has signalled that he will stay loyal to his president. We call on the remaining two waverers – those whose votes, were they to switch to the Republicans, would formally advance impeachment proceedings against Mr Baker – to do the right thing. It is not just America that needs them to act wisely. The entire world is watching.