6:14 PM :: Stephen (contact)

And I thought Wolfowitz was smart: Okay, so what diplomatic genius dreamed up this? Didn't anyone realize that blocking French, German, and Russian companies from reconstruction contracts would just dig the hole in relations deeper? Secretary Powell was begging NATO for help in Iraq as of five days ago--did anyone sit down and think, "Hey, let's insult two of our NATO allies over Iraq, and then ask them for troops"? Heck, do State and DoD even talk to each other any more?

(Andrew Sullivan, by contrast, considers this one of the administration's "best decisions yet.")