Monday, March 03, 2003
The Rush to War

"The Bush administration proved over the weekend that it can plan for war against Iraq and fight international terrorism at the same time. The capture in Pakistan of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a top operative of Al Qaeda who is suspected of planning the Sept. 11 attacks, was the most significant strike against the terror group since the United States dislodged the Osama bin Laden network from Afghanistan. America is safer today because Mr. Mohammed is in custody, and the C.I.A. and F.B.I. should be applauded for their role in his capture.

But a cautionary note is in order. Pakistan's pivotal role in the seizure of Mr. Mohammed is one more demonstration of the importance of working in concert with other nations in the fight against terrorism. The United States cannot defeat Al Qaeda without the help of dozens of other nations. The same principle applies to Iraq. President Bush may be able to win a military victory against Saddam Hussein without broad international support, but he won't be able to rebuild Iraq, much less change the political and economic dynamics of the Islamic world, without a great deal of foreign assistance."

A good editorial from the NY Times advises President Bush to "take a deep breath" and consider carefully his next step


World Affairs from Wozz
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You Are What You Queue

"We call it the Queue obsession, and about a third of our customers have it," said Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, who came up with the idea after spending far too much money on video store late fees. "They visit their lists three or more times a week and look at it the way they look at their stocks. 'What's on the list?' `What should I move around?' Honestly, I've heard of people who have more than 400 films in their Queues."

The NY Times on the Netflix Queue.  I got tired of logging in to check mine, so I made an RSS feed.  I'm a nerd.



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The Long Bomb

"So here's how I feel: I feel as if the president is presenting us with a beautiful carved mahogany table — a big, bold, gutsy vision. But if you look underneath, you discover that this table has only one leg. His bold vision on Iraq is not supported by boldness in other areas. And so I am terribly worried that Mr. Bush has told us the right thing to do, but won't be able to do it right. "

Amen.  Thomas Friedman hits on my feelings exactly.  Bush is taking a HUGE gamble ("The Long Bomb" in Friedman's words) to do something bold and almost certainly worthwhile.  But, in Friedman's words:

"I fear that Mr. Bush has failed to create a context for his boldness to succeed, a context that could maximize support for his vision — support vital to seeing it through. He and his team are the only people who would ever have conceived this project, but they may be the worst people to implement it."


World Affairs from Wozz
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