Optimism hard to come by as another deadline arrives in talks with Iran

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NEED TO KNOW:

The historic talks being held between the United States and Iran on Iran's nuclear program are dragging on, and it's making everyone a little agitated.

Why? Because the US Congress will need to approve any deal, and Congress goes on holiday in August. They call it recess, which is hardly any better. So if the United States wants to get a deal sooner than later, and if Iran wants to get some relief from the crippling economic sanctions sooner than later, they need to submit something quick.

The new deadline is July 10. That's tomorrow. It's likely they'll miss it. They already missed a June 30 deadline and a May deadline before that. No one is going to let a deadline get in the way of what could be a genuinely important deal that could pave the way for an entire rebalancing of the relations between these two longtime enemies. Peace is good and both sides seem to want it. But hopes are waning.

Disagreements between the erstwhile foes remain and it's getting hot in Vienna. It was literally the hottest day of the year so far there yesterday. Emergency air-conditioners were brought in. But they did little to cool tempers. At one point US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, could be heard shouting from outside the room. An aide had to warn them to keep it down.

When Western negotiators at one point accused Iran of perpetuating conflicts in the Middle East, Zarif reminded everyone at the table that they helped prop up Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for decades. “If we are talking about regional security, I should take every one of you to international courts for supporting Saddam,” he said.

When disagreements go back decades, or almost half a century in this case, negotiations can be a challenge. But there's a day left before the next deadline. And then there's the deadline after that. So there's still time.

WANT TO KNOW:

Venezuelans could use a drink. It's hot there, first of all. But more to the point, inflation is at an astonishing 615 percent and the whole economy is at a near-standstill under President Nicolas Maduro. As a result, basic needs like medicine and some food items are in short supply. Try to complain about any of this and you risk jail.

It's the kind of awful situation that eases somehwat with a nice, cold beer. Unfortunately, beer is also about to run out.

The problem is that there's another shortage, this time for some of the ingredients to make those chilled light lagers that are so popular from Mexico to Argentina. Venezuela's national brewer's association said that the beer could run out by August.

Another even more urgent problem is that the people who make the beer are on strike. Members of the Sintraterricentro union walked out of two bottling plants belonging to the Polar brewery last week. The brewery supplies roughly 80 percent of Venezuela's beer. It's such a serious situation that the country's human rights office has stepped in to mediate.

Let's hope for everyone's sake they figure this one out soon.

STRANGE BUT TRUE:

The Pentagon's PR department is rolling out infographics to help us understand its fight against the Islamic State. Thanks, Pentagon! In this one, it details how many things belonging to the Islamic State America has so far blown up. They total 7,655 targets, including more than 400 tanks and humvees.

What it leaves out is where many of those tanks and humvees probably came from. Here is the short of it: The United States invaded Iraq in 2003, bringing with it a lot of military hardware. When it finally (sort of) left Iraq in 2011, much of the equipment stayed behind with the Iraqi military. The US military then continued to send Iraq tanks and humvees after the official end of the Iraq War. Just recently the US State Department approved the sale of a thousand more humvees, armed with .50 caliber machine guns and grenade launchers, to Iraq.

So Iraq has a lot of tanks and humvees from the United States. Or had, in some cases. When the Islamic State took over Mosul and all its military bases last year, it also too the stores of weapons. Iraq's prime minister said that they lost 2,300 humvees in the defeat of Mosul alone. Then the Islamic State went and took Ramadi, where more tanks and other vehicles — not to mention weapons of other kinds — were available for the taking.

So while it's not possible to confirm it, there's a really good chance the Pentagon is blowing up its own machines, fighting an enemy armed with weapons it provided. In a way the Pentagon is bombing itself. It's a strange thing, but it's true.