OP-ED: From Baby-Sitting to Adoption, By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, New York Times, September 5, 2009

A poor piece from Friedman with a useless analogy that reveals his hopelessly American-centric take on the subject. It was always going to be a very long babysitting job, just like Iraq (where I first used that phrase in the original PNM article for Esquire in 2003).

The "adoption" concept is almost Cold War-ish in its limited logic: only America can assume full guardianship.

For a long-term thinker, Friedman changes his mind way too often. That's why he's ill-suited as a guide on strategy. He reflects popular thinking, but he's not up for truly driving it.

Consistency makes you a more boring pundit, but there's no role in educating the public if you're always responding to their fears.