Nukes Just As Safe in Iranian Hands?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Arabs = Skinheads?

New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer is likening the proposed Arab acquisition of management rights at some U.S. ports to having those ports controlled by skinheads. Schumer, among the first to oppose the Dubai ports deal, told the New York Observer that he was surprised by the issue's rapid rise to national prominence, calling it an "intergalactic missile."

But he disputed critics who claim much of the opposition was driven by anti-Arab sentiment, saying, "Let's say skinheads had bought a company to take over our port. I think the outcry would have been the same."

Mixed Feelings on Iraq?

A new FOX News Opinion Dynamics poll reveals some seemingly contradictory feelings on Iraq and the War on Terror. Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe the Iraqi people are better off today because of U.S. military action and 74 percent say the U.S. is safer without Saddam Hussein in power.

But 55 percent of Americans doubt Iraq will ever establish a free, stable government and only 44 percent say the U.S. has a responsibility to stick around until they do. Meanwhile, only 28 percent of those polled say the U.S. should fight for freedom around the world, but 68 percent agree that every step toward freedom in the world makes the United States safer.

Nuclear Strategy

The liberal Federation of American Scientists is suggesting that nuclear weapons are just as safe in Iranian hands as they are in American hands.

In a press release announcing a FAS report claiming nuclear weapons "are surprisingly prominent in both the planning and command structure" in the administration's new national security plan — the group's vice president of strategic security says, "The United States cannot argue that Iran should give up its nuclear ambitions while advocating an aggressive strategy for pre-emptive use of American nuclear weapons."

FAS concedes the strategy is "primarily a non-nuclear mission."

Our Lips Are Sealed

Yale University continues to maintain its silence on why the school admitted a former Taliban spokesman, but it has suspended an official who called two of Yale's critics "retarded." Assistant director of giving Alexis Surovov has been "temporarily relieved of his duties" — pending the results of an investigation into whether he accessed confidential donor databases to send a scathing e-mail to former students who urged their fellow alumni not to donate to Yale in protest. The school has apologized for the incident.

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report.