"This is a financial 9/11." Using language as a verbal club is, at least to me, an indicator that the speaker/author isn't going to advance an argument that can stand on the basis of facts and reasoning.

After complaining about the fact that Iraqis are still working out the structure of their government, he asserts:

"It is the fact that you are now going to have to step up and finish this job...You Shiites have got to bring the Sunni tribes and Awakening groups, who fought the war against Al Qaeda of Iraq, into the government and army. You Kurds have got to find a solution for Kirkuk and accept greater integration into the Iraqi state system, while maintaining your autonomy. You Sunnis in government have got to agree to elections so the newly emergent Sunni tribal and Awakening groups are able to run for office and become "institutionalized" into the Iraqi system."

It took us 11 years and the War of Yankee Aggression (sorry - ) to "finish the job." And we had a considerably greater experience with rule of law and human rights than the Iraqis today. There isn't much in this piece - Ken and Snowden sum it up pretty well - "gobledygook and idle blathering" for the sake of bellyach[ing].

My boss is encouraging me to read "The World Is Flat." I hope this childish piece in IHT isn't typical of his thinking.