With the Wall Street Journal and others reporting this week that the Stuxnet computer virus temporarily shut down Iran’s uranium enrichment, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization saracstically dismissed the story to  IRNA as “rumor.” A former top U.N. nuclear inspections officials says Stuxnet might well be responsible but cautions  there is “no evidence” to  support the claim.

But the change in Iranian comments seems revealing. The Fars News Agency in Iran today offered what it described as “new details about the West’s cyberattack.” While describing the media reports as a “propaganda stratagem,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman also said “Stuxnet is in a league of its own” as a virus.

Not coincidentally, the single biggest Iranian news agency, IRIB, today played up the boast of nuclear chief,  Alik Akbar Salehi, that the West had been caught “off guard” by Iran’s recent nuclear gains.  That sounds like counter-messaging.

The Iranian statements this week differ notably from those issued  in September which claimed the virus has affected only staff computers at the Bushehr nuclear power plant but not the computers that run the reactor.

The conservative Telegraph in the U.K. has credited an “Israeli cyber unit” with developing the virus. So has the liberal Haaretz in Israel.

In the tech world, P.C. World polled a group of security consultants familiar with the code who “all agree that Stuxnet was built by a very sophisticated and capable attacker — possibly a nation state — and it was designed to destroy something big.”

Donaldson called Thomas “the best White House correspondent ever!”  Abourezk gibed Thomas was not fired because of comments she made about Jews. Her “fatal sin,” he said, was asking President Obama if any countries in the Middle East currently possessed nuclear weapons. The always-self-righteous Ralph Nader said, “If ten reporters had acted the way Helen acted there never would have been an Iraq war.”

He’s probably wrong about that but it is an inspirational thought for ill-paid scribes. In the course of the evening there were a couple of references to Arab dictatorships but with the superb Seared Filet of Wild Salmon with Pinot Noir Sauce paid for by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“Ultimate Underwriter”) the focus wisely remained on the 90-year old honoree.

The crowd of well-dressed crowd five hundred welcomed Thomas to the podium with a standing ovation.

“U.S. policy is supporting man’s inhumanity to man,” Thomas  said in brief remarks accepting the ADC’s award. ” I pray that my country will return to the morals and ideals that made it so great.”

A personal aside: At one point, Abourezk said “Israel doesn’t have a lot to do with Judaism. It has a lot to done with fascism.”  Without passing judgment on the latter proposition, I paused over the former. “Israel doesn’t have a lot to do with Judaism.”

That struck me (a secular, non-practicing Judeo-Christian by culture and marriage) as true as a matter of theology but not of practical politics. The most public sign of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory in Washington D.C., I realized, are the signs on the lawns of the synagogues where I used to attend bar mitvahs when my kids were younger.  These expressions of concern for Israel’s security are  worth respecting  but they do amount to code words for occupation. So I would have to say that in northwest Washington  Judaism does have something to do with Israel. An irritating thought with uncertain implications. Maybe it was Helen Thomas that made me think it

The state controlled media presnts the parade commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution as a walk of unity with a “final” message for the opposition. But with Persian2English reporting plainclothes police targetting anti-government demonstrators with paintballs, the government’s posture is aggressive and defensive.

For the incumbent powers, the  problem is where to crack down?  The political fissures go right tot the top.

Meanwhile in Israel, a common view is that attacking Iran is less risky than letting it obtain nuclear weapons. From this perspective,  the Iran’s democratic movement  isn’t a factor. Its an IDF target too.

Thus heavy moral burdens of the Washington reporter are eased. You don’t have to get familiar with the question of justice in Israel and Palestine. Just get your talking points and move on. On four key points, Kenner compares the South African jurist’s scathing report on Israeli Defense Forces actions during the Gaza war with Israel’s stout defense.

Guess who comes out ahead?

Use of white phosphorous: The IDF barely bothers to deny it used the deadly inflammatory that extinguished several Palestinian families in flames. If that isn’t a war crime, there’s no such thing. Advantage Goldstone.

Destruction of a flour mill. Israel says Hamas soldiers operated in the area. There’s little dispute about that. Do you need to destroy a source of food while pursuing armed combatants? If your war is just,  maybe. Advantage Israel.

Destruction of a water well. Israel says it had no knowledge that there was a key water source in the vicinity of Hamas command post. How likely is that? Not very. Advantage Goldstone.

Destruction of the House of Abu Askar and the Death of His Two Sons: Israel warned a Hamas commander to evacuate his house. He did and seven minutes later Israel bombed.. The family later returned to pick through the rubble; Israel bombed again. Two of the man’s sons, 13 and 19, were killed. Israel admits dropping high explosives in a crowded urban areas without a second warning to non-combatants. Israel says the two young men were legitimate targets. I am sure there are 13 year old Hamas militants who pose some kind of threat to Israeli Jewish civilians. I’m sure IDF commanders in Gaza hoped to kill them, knowing that non-combatants would likely be killed in the process. They didn’t care enough not to push the button. Advantage Goldstone.

Of course, Goldstone’s report deserves less cursory treatment than this crude scorecard, but Kenner has performed a public service. A complex and compehensive document, the Goldstone report poses that most poignant of questions for the contemporary journalist: if you can’t tweet about it, does it exist?

–Aluf Benn in Haaretz.

Khalid Amayreh for the Palestinian Information Centre.

Jersualem Post: Ship proves Goldstone Report encourages terror.

Asharq Alawsat: Israel’s fear of Goldstone.

In the Palestinian press, Abbas’s intervention to persuade the UN to put off its response has been greeted with fury, even in papers normally loyal to the president’s Fatah faction.

“This was a humiliating capitulation in the face of US and Israeli pressure”, Hani al-Masri fumed in the pro-Fatah daily al-Ayyam.”