On hostage taking by the U.S.

Steve Clemons informs us that the Iraqi Foreign Minister confirms Iran's claim that the Iranian diplomats taken hostage by the U.S. were, in fact, diplomats.

Now, this is a fine mess.

The U.S. raided a Consulate like facility and detained five Iranian nationals in northern Iraq. U.S. intelligence apparently worried that the five Iranians were aiding insurgents inside Iraq.

Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has now confirmed the diplomatic status of these detainees and the mission in Northern Iraq and called for their release.

This should be an interesting test of the reality of Iraqi sovereignty -- and will no doubt cause a number of ulcers among U.S. military now ordered to disrupt and attack Iranian operations inside Iraq -- and perhaps beyond.

Some of you may not remember it, but it wasn't that long ago (relative to my life-span, at least) that everyone was shouting and screaming about the Iranians taking our embassy personnel hostage. Didn't Jimmy Carter lose his re-election bid over this?