FRIEDMAN SAYS: I decided to refrain from warblogging and/or peaceblogging in my journal, here. I can't help but repost a deliciously worded paragraph from Thomas L. Freidman, of the New York Times, though. To paraphrase another great American: Tom, I don't always agree with what you say, but I sure as hell love the way you say it.

What all this means is that when it comes to building democracy in Iraq, the Europeans are uninterested, the Americans are hypocritical and the Arabs are ambivalent. Therefore, undertaking a successful democratization project there, in a way that will stimulate positive reform throughout the region, will require a real revolution in thinking all around — among Americans, Arabs and Europeans. If done right, the Middle East will never be the same. If done wrong, the world will never be the same. (Thomas L. Freidman, The Gridlock Gang, The New York Times)