The disgusting murder of Daniel Pearl is another reminder of the barbarism we are now fighting. Its grotesque brutality, its shameless spectacle and its media manipulation are straight out of the pagan warrior handbook, as Robert Kaplan would describe it. We have every reason to be outraged, as well as saddened. But we have to remind ourselves that these are the risks of war against such an enemy. So far, the United States has survived this conflict with amazingly few casualties in the foreign arena. One is too many, of course. But I feel worried by the idea, buried in today’s Washington Post story that the administration might be considering a “new policy to take action to help free any American held hostage overseas, instead of just those who are U.S. officials. Options could include military strikes or direct contact with kidnappers, but not negotiations over demands, officials said.” This strikes me as unwise. Responding to every kidnapping of a U.S. citizen could become a permanent endeavor. Such a zero-tolerance policy, however laudable in principle, might even encourage such kidnappings, if they are seen as a way to distract and manipulate American public opinion and to yank the chain of the American government. We shouldn’t rise to this bait. The Pearl murder is surely a moment for anger but also for steady nerves. I can’t imagine the much-liked reporter would have wanted his legacy to be anything else.
POSEUR ALERT: “I think it will take years before we can repair the damage done by that statement,” – former president Jimmy Carter, on president Bush’s “axis of evil” phrase. What is Carter thinking? For a former president to criticize a current president so harshly while the country is at war is breath-taking enough. But who on earth does Jimmy Carter mean by “we” in that sentence? “We” as in craven appeasers of dictatorships, pathetic ditherers in international affairs, and sanctimonious prigs, perhaps? OK, I take his point.
SWIFT’S ABDICATION: The Boston Herald’s Margery Eagan masterfully dismembers the arrogance and illogic of the Massachusetts governor.
CLASSIC NOONAN: “As a communicator [Rumsfeld is] clear as clean water. He seems ingenuous. He talks with his hands. He’s thought it through and knows a lot and tells you what he knows. At first you sense his candor and clarity and enjoy it without realizing it. Then you realize you must be enjoying it because you’re still listening. Then you sense that his candor and clarity are in the service of intelligence and clean intentions. You find yourself following what he says, following the logic and the argument. Which makes you ultimately lean toward following him.” – Peggy Noonan, getting under Rummy’s skin, Wall Street Journal, today.
BOOK CLUB: Bob Kaplan recommends further reading; you keep at him. Later today: my take on Chapters III – VII.
The Dish 