Glad to help out the New York Times' story on Rumsfeld

ARTICLE: "Rumsfeld Also Plays Hardball on Pentagon’s Squash Courts," by David S. Cloud, New York Times, 24 September 2006

I give everyone thirty lashes with a wet noodle for missing my appearance in the NYT!

Mr. Rumsfeld himself has suggested that his ideas about transforming the military into a smaller, more agile force, like the one he pushed for in invading Iraq, were influenced by his squash playing.

In an interview with the military writer Thomas P. M. Barnett last year, Mr. Rumsfeld said, “I play squash with him,” gesturing at Mr. Di Rita. “When I pass him in a shot and it’s a well-played hard shot, I saw speed kills. And it does. If you can do something very fast you can get your job done and save a lot of lives.”

Ah, both the brilliance and the banality on display: Rummy was right about the war, but didn't question how that assumption translated in the peace, and therein lies both the rub and about 2k dead from hostile actions.

Yes, squash can tell us something about war, as all sports can, but typically you need to look elsewhere for inspiration on the peace. No good postwar, no good war worth waging.

This cite shows the utility of putting the Rumsfeld interview transcript online, because that's obviously where Cloud got it. I don't post the transcript, he can't use it (and Rummy didn't submit to an interview, so where else to get his words on squash?).

Also a good lesson: notice how the professional Cloud suitably referenced me (something I blew in my Rummy piece with ABC News, out of complete ignorance on my part) while simultaneously denying the reference to Esquire. Hmm, killing two professional birds with one stone! Nicely done, you competitive bastard!

Actually, I like Cloud a lot and always read him, so way cool.

But again, I chastise all readers who never brought this to my attention!

And actually, I'll confess that I skimmed the piece and missed it myself!

Now to wait on the indignant phone call from Mark Warren...