Press TV on Israel, Egypt and Iraq

Few things of note. Press TV has an interesting poll on their main news page. Is asks readers: What is Egypt and Israel's main objective in closing the Rafah border-crossing? There are three answers to choose from: (1) Forcing Hamas into accepting Israel's conditions for truce; (2) Weakening the Hamas government and paving the way for its ouster; and (3) Maintaining security in the region.

It is important to note how the question is framed -- by lumping Egypt and Israel together in the fairly loaded question, Press TV is taking a de facto swipe at Mubarak and the Egyptian government. Curious what the results of the poll are? As of now (4p PST Feb 9):

• Forcing Hamas into accepting Israel's conditions for truce (27%)
• Weakening the Hamas government and paving the way for its ouster (62%)
• Maintaining security in the region (12%)

Also of note is the relatively positive of coverage (see here and here) of the successful elections in Iraq last week. Perhaps this is some more evidence in support of what a Sunday article in the NYT (America's Scorecard in Iraq) is reporting: "Iran, at least for now, appears to have scaled back its overt attempts to undermine the nascent Iraqi government by supplying insurgent groups."