'New York Times' or the 'Onion'? You Be the Judge!

Remember the gag headline, “Muslims Fear Backlash from Tomorrow’s Train Bombing”? Impossible, right? Think again: today, the once-great New York Times, its slips and petticoats and furbelows showing, descends completely into self-parody:

Iran’s Swift Release of U.S. Sailors Hailed as a Sign of Warmer Relations

No, really, that’s the headline.

Iran’s release of 10 United States Navy sailors on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after they were detained on the Persian Gulf, is being hailed in both countries as a sign that their relations have evolved since the signing of the nuclear accord last summer.

Secretary of State John Kerry thanked the Iranians “for their cooperation in swiftly resolving this matter” and suggested in a statement that the quick resolution of the issue was a product of the nearly daily back-and-forth that now takes place between Washington and Tehran, after three decades of hostility and stony silence.

In an appearance later Wednesday at the National Defense University in Washington, Mr. Kerry said that his focus on diplomacy with a country “we hadn’t talked to for 35 years” before the nuclear negotiations had paid off.

Stunning, but read further down in the story to see the level of operational ineptitude to which the Navy and Marines have been reduced under the Obama administration:

The Pentagon and the State Department initially said that one of the boats had experienced mechanical problems en route to Bahrain from Kuwait in a routine mission on Tuesday, and that the Iranians appeared to have accepted the explanation. On Wednesday morning, however, after the crew members and boats were returned, defense officials said they no longer believed that mechanical problems were the cause, noting that both boats returned to United States custody under their own power.

Defense officials said that they were still trying to untangle the chain of events that led to the episode. Of particular note, they said, was the question of how the military lost contact with not one, but two boats. Several officials noted that the crew members were relatively young, junior enlisted sailors.

We still have one full year and a week before this nightmare is over. Let’s hope we make it.