Former weapons inspector David Kay said yesterday that Iran is 80% of the way to a nuclear weapon and will only need two to five years more for it effort to be complete. He also said the U.S. should be prepared for the possibility that international pressure on Iran will fail to stop its progress on nuclear weapons. "You've got a clear record of country that is damned determined at some point to develop nuclear weapons," Kay told a group at the Nixon Center. "The real question to ask is, ‘What are the political strategies we can follow now that can lessen the impact?'" Adding, "My personal guess is they are two to five years away from having a sufficient amount of fissile material and weapon design work to put them in a place where you believe they have the capability of putting a warhead on the end of a missile."

The Pentagon said this week that Iranian support for Shiite militias is the biggest threat to stability in Iraq. In its quarterly report to Congress, the DOD said Iran continues to "fund, train, arm and direct'" and "remains a principle reason for continued violence'' among militia groups in Iraq.

An article this week in Forbes describes Hugo Chavez's efforts to develop an alternative oil market in China to reduce Venezuelan dependence on the U.S. market. Half of Venezuelan oil now goes to the U.S. Chavez wants to increase oil going to Venezuela from 330,000 barrels per day to 1 million barrels by 2012. China and Venezuela also recently agreed to build a refinery in Venezuela and launch a joint oil-development project in the Orinoco Basin, one of the world's largest oil fields.

Brazil and Venezuela agreed to increase bilateral cooperation on Tuesday by signing seven new agreements. The agreements include building a Brazilian company and building an iron and steel plant in the Venezuelan state of Bolivar. "The impact of these agreements in Venezuela is amazing. I want to thank Brazil for its disinterested cooperation," said Chavez at a joint press conference.