There is a British attitude to problems abroad that more volume is needed rather than better understanding. So the Brit, when unable to communicate his order for Sausage, Egg and Chips in a cafe in Seoul, shouts louder rather than trying a different tack.
Which reminds me of the Bush attitude to Iraq (excuse the delay - I've been trying to avoid a knee-jerk response and have been genuinely thinking about it).
How can it be that such a difficult problem can be solved by more men with guns ? Especially since it was created in the first place by men with guns.
If the USAF bombed my house, killing Mrs Stan and Stanetta, and then no matter how many Marines dropped by to protect me from looters, I would find it hard to be sociable I'm afraid.
The Bush administration's attitude to the problem stinks. All this talk of the "investment" of human life in solving the Iraq problem is deeply sick. The lives are lost, not invested. Now I'm afraid Gamblers Anonymous should be concerned by their double-or-nothing approach to losing.
Mr Negroponte today said that Al-Qaida poses the gravest terrorist threat to the United States. I'm afraid I would consider the greatest danger to be the nameless cabal of Neo-Con Hawks within the Republican Party who are running the US for the benefit of friends and family.