“The terrorist who mailed anthrax-tainted letters is probably a man, something of a loner with scientific ability who ”lacks the personal skills necessary to confront others” face to face, the FBI said Friday in a fresh plea for the public’s help in solving the baffling case. The culprit ”did not select his victims randomly,” the FBI said in a three-page, carefully hedged assessment issued more than one month after the disease first surfaced. He ‘may hold grudges for a long time, vowing that he will get even with ‘them,’ one day.'” – Associated Press.
AHEM: Of course, the other op-ed page that’s a must-read is the Wall Street Journal. Sorry, Max!
BLOCK THAT METAPHOR: “Is America the Titanic and Pakistan the iceberg we’re about to hit, while we’re searching for Osama bin Laden in the fog of Afghanistan? Or is Pakistan the Titanic, its president, Pervez Musharraf, the captain, America the only passengers and Afghanistan the iceberg we’re about to hit?” – Tom “Dear Yassir” Friedman, New York Times. Or are the allies the deckchairs near the swimming pool and CNN the life-rafts?
WHAT PLANET IS HE ON DEPT.: “The [Washington Post] Op-Ed page does feature some alternative voices, like David Broder, E.J. Dionne Jr. and Michael Kinsley, but they tend to focus on domestic affairs and in any case are no match for the Stentorian Seven. As a result, the page seems stale and one-dimensional, offering much less diversity of opinion than, say, the New York Times Op-Ed page.” – Michael Massing, The Nation. Massing believes that Rich, Dowd, Lewis, Herbert, Krugman, Friedman represent diversity! Let’s say that at least the Washington Post op-ed page might conceivably have had more than one token Bush-voter last fall. And Massing, of course, has got things exactly wrong. The only op-ed page worth reading these days is the Washington Post’s. Until the Times actually embraces real diversity (rather than gender-racial posturing), that will remain the case.
NEVER TRUST CONTENT FROM QUETTA: An interestingly honest piece from a Pakistani journalist in Quetta suggests things haven’t changed much in foreign reporting since Evelyn Waugh wrote “Scoop.” We should be particularly wary of generalizations about the mood of Afghans. How on earth does anyone know? As for misery, I’m sure it exists, as it has done from some time. But here’s some perspective: “After having faced years of strife, falling of bombs and missiles is a routine matter for common Afghans. There is no fear or harassment. Besides, for many, bombs, whether intact or after explosions, are the only source of livelihood. When the missiles were hitting the suburbs of Kandahar and smokes emitted with a heavy sound, locals started fighting with each other to get the shell of missiles and bombs. Sale of scrap is the only way there to earn some money. A ton of scrap sells for Rs 125 – as the rupee is a valid currency — and a truck load of debris, scattered when mountains are torn apart by US bombs, sells for Rs 1,300. It is big business for some in times of bad wars.”
The Dish 