It is inconceivable that a man as publicly and closely aligned with the views of Iran and its agents of influence in America will be able to exercise truly independent judgment about what the mullahs are up to, let alone offer objective intelligence analysis about how best to contend with them.
This has been to Mr Berlusconi's advantage over the years and none of his legal reforms have, as their main objective, the speeding up of justice (although one measure, removing the prosecutions' right to appeal a judgment, will help in some cases).