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January 30, 2012 | | TENSION The robust sanctions against Iran won’t work by themselves to stop that country’s nuclear program. Looking at Iranians from their perspective helps explain why, writes The Daily Beast’s Leslie H. Gelb. DOWN TO THE WIRE With one day before the Florida primary, Mitt Romney is rapidly putting distance between himself and Newt in the polls. A Reuters poll on Sunday showed Romney with a 12 point lead over Gingrich in the state, while three other polls show Romney ahead by 11 to 15 points. Gingrich continues to slam Romney at campaign stops, calling him a pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase moderate from Massachusetts,” but Romney is reportedly outspending Gingrich 5-to-1 in television ads, according to data a Democratic source showed Talking Points Memo. Meanwhile, Gov. Jeb Bush is standing on the sidelines, despite Romney aggressively courting him for an endorsement. Tense In a sign that the relationship between the United States and Egypt continues to worsen, the American Embassy in Cairo took the unusual step of opening its doors to U.S. citizens working for nongovernmental organizations. The embassy is offering U.S. workers shelter from a crackdown by Egypt's military rulers on pro-democracy groups. Last week, Sam LaHood, son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and director of International Republican Institute’s program in Egypt, was barred from boarding an international flight in Cairo. Modern Warfare The small fleet of U.S. surveillance drones in Iraq to help protect embassies and consulates is provoking outrage among senior Iraqi officials. In a statement, the State department confirmed the continued presence of its small drones, saying, “The department does have a UAV program. The UAVs being utilized by the State Department are not armed, nor are they capable of being armed.” But top Iraqi officials said they had never been consulted about the program. Acting minister of the interior, Adnan al-Asadi, said, “Our sky is our sky, not the USA’s sky.” The State department is reportedly considering using unarmed surveillance drones in “high-threat” countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan in the future. Lost Officials have been unable to locate $1.2 billion in missing customer money in the three months since MF Global filed for bankruptcy. $6 billion was kept at MF Global before its collapse and about $5.3 billion of that money has been found. But additional customer money may be lost in litigation with other branches of MF Global, which accounts for the higher figure. Authorities now say that it is unlikely that the missing money will ever be recovered. A person involved with the investigation said it is possible that a “significant amount” of money “vaporized” in the week leading up to the collapse. While one customer said, “I’m trying to be optimistic, but as it drags on longer, you become leery.” | | 
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