WHILE WE CELEBRATE – AT 11:43 A.M. ET:  We may be on holiday, but our enemies are not.  Iran is off the front pages, for some reason, but is moving aggressively to fill the void left by the decline of American power in the Mideast and west Asia.  Anyone in the White House interested?  From The Wall Street Journal:

TEHRAN—Iran's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior U.S. officials, in a bid to accelerate the U.S. withdrawals from these countries.

The Revolutionary Guard has smuggled rocket-assisted exploding projectiles to its militia allies in Iraq, weapons that have already resulted in the deaths of American troops, defense officials said. They said Iranians have also given long-range rockets to the Taliban in Afghanistan, increasing the insurgents' ability to hit U.S. and other coalition positions from a safer distance.

Show any weakness, and countries like Iran are all over you.  Yet weakness is what Obama projects. 

Such arms shipments would escalate the shadow competition for influence playing out between Tehran and Washington across the Middle East and North Africa, fueled by U.S. preparations to draw down forces from two wars and the political rebellions that are sweeping the region.

The U.S. is wrestling with the aftermath of uprisings against longtime Arab allies from Tunisia to Bahrain, and trying to leave behind stable, friendly governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran appears to be trying to gain political ground amid the turmoil and to make the U.S. withdrawals as quick and painful as possible.

And Iran is developing nuclear weapons.  Iran is winning.  The regime may be crazed, but it has patience, and Iranian diplomats are considered among the most capable in the world. 

At the same time, news out of the formerly moderate Tunisia, where the "Arab spring" began, is not good.  The new "democratic" government has taken a harsh stand, refusing any peace with Israel, a stance the former government never took.  We can now expect that a dose of anti-Americanism will follow.  Much of the "Arab spring" is turning out to be a big disappointment, with Islamist elements rising and true liberal democracy in retreat. 

And with Iran growing more powerful, look for the new Arab governments to suddenly find they have much in common with Tehran.  In the Mideast, as Osama bin Laden said, it's the strong horse who wins.

July 3, 2011