Better late than never.
There are many who had such an optimstic and hopeful opinion of things, and you certainly can’t expect things to change [snaps fingers] on a dime overnight, but there are many who suggested that with the outgoing Bush administration and the incoming Obama administration there would be something of a lull in terrorism attacks. There had been such a global outpouring of affection, respect, hope, with the new administration coming in, that precisely these kinds of attacks, it was thought — at least hoped — would be dampered down. But in this case it looks like Barack Obama is getting a preview of things to come.
— Alex Witt, MSNBC, 11/27/08, on the Mumbai terror attacks
So much for the journalist-intelligence myth.
I personally think it was a dress-rehearsal. Rumsfield said the most profound thing in this world that’s germane to terrorism “appeasement is provocative.”
And I think we’re going to find out just how provocative.