Oil spill diplomacy

How heartening to hear that Iran and Iraq may curb their belligerency enough to do something about the oil spill in the Persian Gulf. The spill, coming from Iranian offshore wells and growing at the rate of 10,000 barrels of oil a day, now covers some 7,500 square miles and threatens immense environmental damage.

Iran and Iraq are not about to cease formal hostilities, but they reportedly have agreed at the United Nations to stop fighting in the area of the spill and to cooperate in a cleanup.

Who knows? Once they start working together on a joint project, they may find themselves liking a ''state of peace'' and decide that the war itself is a foolish, costly, and no-win proposition.