Go read Lileks.

Many people have probably been resigned to this stuff for quite a long time. I know I have.

But the cynic inside me still wonders. If the airliners had flown into London or Paris - would we be where we are now? Would it be viewed as, I am told here that it ought to be as an assult on our collective values, or as something terrible, but to be expected?

If Boston or Seattle vanish in a white flash it won't be the fault of Bush. I'm just not convinced that he will recorded by historians as having been part of the solution. After all, 2 years is not all that long.

After all, Stalin was a valued ally in 1943...

Dave,

What are you talking about? That's an honest question, because I honestly have no idea what your previous comment is supposed to mean.

Would the destruction of Big Ben, or the Houses of Parliament, or the destruction of the Louvre be considered an assault on the rest of us in the West? I, for one, would say "Yes."

Would the US have led the war against the perpetrators? Well, only if the French and/or the Brits had let us. Suffice to say that, from the experience in 1982, one would expect Britain to have responded, but I've honestly no idea whether France would've gone to war or tried to find some other solution.

Yes, it's been two years. As Zhou Enlai is reputed to have said, when asked the significance of the French Revolution, "It is far too early to tell." Yet, in '43, the greatest threat to the world WAS Nazi Germany, and in order to eliminate that threat, we did ally ourselves (we being the US and the UK and the rest of the Free World) with the likes of Stalin.

Distasteful? Yes.
Unfortunate? Yes.
Necessary? Absolutely.

So, what's your point?

Dean,

I wish I could be as confident as you.

Based on past experience, I am not.