I'm sitting here watching Nightline. Ted Koppel is interviewing Paul Bremer. Koppel asks Bremer what is so special about the date June 30th. Bremer hesitates and says, that is when we turn over the control of Iraq to the Iraqis.
I had to do a double take, that look on Paul Bremer's face was one I've seen too many times to mistake.
Now, understand that I've worked in 3 technology startups over the last 8 years. Once a month, you have to meet with the members of the board, who are generally the investors and give them an update on where things stand. The VP of Sales gets up and describes the revenue pipeline, the VP of Marketing gets up and describes the product and marketing release schedule and the VP of Engineering gets up and describes the development schedule. Guaranteed, at least one of these guys, if not all three, when asked the tough question about whether they will meet their dates, will hesitate for a moment, and with that same exact look that Bremer had on his face, say "Absolutely. No problem."
But of course, what that look really means is "There is absolutely no way that this is really going to happen. I'm totally bullshitting you. I just need to get through this meeting. We'll worry about reality when the time comes."
It's going to be an interesting summer.