A STRAW IN THE WIND

The TV commentators have been obsessed this past day with Obama's final State of the Union speech, which was, after all, just a speech, but the real news was elsewhere.  Two U. S. naval vessels, described as "riverine boats," each with a crew of five, wandered into Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Hormuz, apparently as the result of a faulty navigational system.  The boats and their crews were taken into custody by Iranian forces.  After a bit of long-distance discussion between Secretary of State Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, the boats and crews were released in less than twenty-four hours.  That is simply astonishing, a clear indication of the changed relationship between America and Iran in the aftermath of the successful nuclear proliferation talks.  So far as I can to make out, none of the commentators is able to see this little event for what it is.