A Conundrum* for our Times

What to do? Where to seek? Whom to ask? Alas.

Today's New York Times email edition has a headline and opening paragraph which is slightly confusing, in context, that is.

U.S. Says Bomb Supplied by Iran Kills Troops in Iraq is the headline, and this--BAGHDAD, Aug. 7 — Attacks on American-led forces using a lethal type of roadside bomb said to be supplied by Iran reached a new high in July, according to the American military--is the paragraph, by Michael R. Gordon.

How, you may ask, Dear Reader, is this confusing? Well, it's confusing because just this week Mr. Karzai of Afghanistan told us that Iran is helping Afghanistan in its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda (Mr. Bush disagreed, of course).

So, the Pentagon is claiming the Iranis are killing American troops in Iraq; the Iraqis are denying the claim; Karzai claims the Iranis are helping (in a way) American troops in Afghanistan; Bush demurs from Karzai's statement.

The conundrum is not only verification, but whom does one trust in the first place? Mr Bush? Mr. Karzai? The Pentagon? The Iraqis? Perhaps Mr. Cheney or Mr. Gonzales?

It's almost like Carrol folded Alice into both Wonderland and the Looking Glass.

(* Isn't conundrum a wonderful word to sound? So nearly sexual on so many levels!)

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