I have a feeling i would get along splendidly with New York Times editorialist Nicholas Kristof. Not only was he bureau chief of the NY Times's Beijing office for several years and co-authored the book China Wakes with his wife, he also seems to have a humanitarian heart (like me), stays out of political fads (like me), and sees right through the games people play (well, actually I'm pretty naive when it comes to games). So it was just confirmation to see him write this in his column today, Death by Optimism:

The administration chose to rely not on intelligence but on wishful thinking, and it became intoxicated by the siren calls of Ahmad Chalabi, a silver-tongued charlatan.

So I'm not the only one who saw right through this opportunist Chalabi.