A FRIEND REMINDED ME OF BUSH’S POOR PERFORMANCE in November 1999 recalling names of political leaders in four of the world’s leading hot spots.

THE COMMITTEE ON THE PRESENT DANGER is attempting to engage Americans in important foreign policy and security debates through fear tactics. One good resource that seeks to engage Americans and those abroad who care about international affairs is a new guide, U.S. in the World: Talking Global Issues with Americans — A Practical Guide.

JAMES WOOLSEY & CO. WILL OUTLINE WORLD WAR IV STRATEGIES at a forum scheduled two weeks from now on Wednesday, 29 September, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

I AM IN POCANTICO, NEW YORK, AT KYKUIT, the former estate of John D. Rockefeller for an interesting conference organized by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs. I have been extremely busy up here and only now able to find a way on line recently.

THE PENTAGON HAS JUST UNLOADED A CLIP AT SEYMOUR HERSH for what it thinks may be in his book. I have never seen a government bureaucracy issue a pre-reaction for something it was expecting but which had not occurred.

JAMES WOOLSEY OPENED THE TULSA TOWN HALL annual speakers program with a speech there this morning, and he spoke in Tulsa as well on Wednesday before the Downtown Rotary Club.

BEFORE THE 2000 ELECTION, I MADE A SERIOUS MISTAKE. I told a number of people that I would be basically satisfied with either Al Gore or George W. Bush as president.

IN WASHINGTON POST LETTERS TODAY, PAUL S. FORBES of Fairfax, Virginia compellingly argues that Arnold Schwarzenegger painted a false picture of his youth in Austria.

. . .SO SAYETH DICK CHENEY. Remember when America was last punished? On September 13, 2001, in a public discussion between television evangelists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, both agreed that “God gave us what we deserve.” The Washington Post‘s John F.

THE TRAGIC END TO THE SCHOOL HOSTAGE CRISIS in Beslan, a village in the North Ossetia region of Russia, was 9/11 in slow motion for many Russians.