Unlike Americans who are eager to put this messy time
behind us, our adversaries have time on their side, and
they will use it. They plan to fight a battle of attrition,
hoping to drag the battle out until the American public
loses its will to fight. This might be difficult to believe
in this euphoric time of flag waving and patriotism, but
it is generally acknowledged that America lacks the
stomach for a long fight.

Indeed! We of "the instant fix" - from the magic pill for all discomfort to.. Send in the Marines!

Now we are about to discover if all we are good for is bizness, the frantic 24/7 running-on-empty of the .com - which so many thought of as 'work'. And if our best minds prove inadequate.. perform merely a lot like those minds of the PHBs which so many here encounter daily (?) We'd best hope that Corp minds aren't all we have - these aren't even bright enough to notice our homegrown IT-Taliban! what it is costing them, has been escalating..for a decade.

Guess we shall have to run on empty a bit - Von Clausewitz's 3rd factor.

The Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, (the most often quoted and least read military theorist in history), says that there is a
"remarkable trinity of war" that is composed of the (1)
will of the people, (2) the political leadership of the
government, and (3) the chance and probability that
plays out on the field of battle, in that order. Every
American citizen was in the crosshairs of last
Tuesday's attack, not just those that were unfortunate
enough to be in the World Trade Center or Pentagon.
The will of the American people will decide this war. If
we are to win, it will be because we have what it takes
to persevere through a few more hits, learn from our
mistakes, improvise, and adapt. If we can do that, we
will eventually prevail.

Already.. it seems we are looking for a neat algorithm to make this go away, reduce the response to a simple process: bomb with goods? or with the usual.

Luck to us all,

A.