justNews: Do you think that your original vision for the recreation of Iraq is still feasible at this point?Thomas L. Friedman '75: I don't know. But I don't think anyone that I know of declared this week to declare whether it's feasible or not. And what I mean by that is that people have argued this question a lot. And I wish I could be more optimistic right now but if you've been reading me from the very beginning you know how I said this is a long-term project that I believe was grotesquely mismanaged by this administration.

justNews: Do you think the Bush administration is still capable of improving the situation?

TLF: I don't know. I'm not being coy, I'm just wrestling with the same issue in my own column. I will probably write about that on Thursday, in fact. You know, I was just talking on the phone to a friend of mine now just thinking through what I feel and you know they've grossly mismanaged this enterprise. But, there are two questions one has to ask about Iraq: are we on the wrong side or are we on the wrong way? Now, I know we're on the wrong way, but I still don't think we're on the wrong side. When I say "the wrong side" what I mean is that when I look at who are the people opposing us in the process. If I felt that they really represented the authentic will of the Iraqi people for an end result better than the one we're trying to engineer of albeit maladroitly, then I feel we're on the wrong side. But what do I see when I look at the other side? I see people sawing people's heads off on video, I see people blowing up Iraqis trying to join their own police and army. What they're doing to us-that I understand. I would never support. But I can understand some people say "This is an occupation, you are the occupier, I'm going to attack you. That is what they're doing to Iraqis. That is a relevant audience. And I see an opponent who is afraid to tell us who he is. When we were up against the Vietcong, Vietcong told us who they were and what their vision of Vietnam was. We're up against an enemy who doesn't even claim credit, you know, let alone tell us who they are and what's our vision for Iraq. Well, they must not be doing that for a reason. It must be because they don't want the Iraqi people to know who they are. So if I thought we were on the wrong side, then I would say "this is all wrong." That right now I know we're on the wrong way and I will throw in the towel if I see we're on the wrong side...I don't think we're there yet and until we get through this election process and see whether that's possible, then I'll look at the situation and see if I have to draw that conclusion or that we've gotten to a certain point and that... there's a sort of rush to judgement where because we're in election season, you know, and it's kind of "Alright, well whose side are you on and who's what," I'm trying to respond not to the election but what's going on there. I'm trying to write my column and how to react to events and, in my own universe, this has been very sad. It's been terribly mismanaged. It's gone so much worse than one could have hoped or dreamed. But it's not over. That's my take.

justNews: On globalization, you said that although America is losing jobs, you said that we have the world edge as the engine of innovation, which you said around March or April, and that's the next biggest thing that comes from America. Looking back, based on our economy now and how things are going, is that something this country should rely on to remain prosperous- being the engine of innovation?

TLF: Well, there's two parts to your question. Is that the way to remain prosperous? Absolutely. You want to be the person who thinks up the next Google, the next Starbucks or the next Microsoft because you'll capture more of the value added if you're the person who thinks it up rather than the person who copies it or works for the person who thinks it up. So we definitely want to have an economy that keeps us as the engine of innovation. The question is "Will we-are we doing the things that will keep us as the economy that is that engine of innovation? There, I think is reason to wonder and ask and so I think that we must have a much more focused national strategy to make sure we are staying in that niche. And that it remains ours.

justNews: General question about Israel-in your opinion, what happened to the 'road map'? And, just as a kind of a follow-up, what has Bush's role been in this whole process? Has he been effective or has he been unproductive?

TLF: I say this administration has been extremely ineffective in its Arab-Israeli diplomacy. I know Dennis Ross is going be here this week and I know Dennis, in his extremely wonderful book catalogues a lot of what happened. But, this train hasn't just jumped the tracks. It's now rolling down the hill and it's on fire, basically. We've jumped the rails, it's tumbling down the hill and it's burning. So, because of that I'm deeply worried.

justNews: Do you think that Kerry's inauguration would salvage the situation?

TLF: The only thing that would salvage it, what would make it fundamentally a new situation is if you had a different Palestinian leadership that had credibility with the Israeli public to fight suicide terrorists and being a responsible steward of the Gaza strip if Israel withdrew. In the absence of that kind of government, it makes it very easy for Sharon to play out his worst instincts, which is to "withdraw" from Gaza but keep it totally surrounded so it really can't become an effective state. If you're withdrawing from Gaza in order to make it really a big prison and in order to keep the West bank, it will bring us only tears. If you're withdrawing from Gaza to make it an example, a platform, to show Palestinians what they could do with self-governance, then you're on your way somewhere. And, that's what the focus of American diplomacy should be, that's what the focus of Israeli diplomacy should be and that's what the focus of Palestinian diplomacy should be. But, right now, as I said, no one is there and it's just like shouting into a cave, you know, saying "this is what we should be doing" but it's not anything I see happening from any direction. I find it very depressing and I have written about it very much. I'm thinking about writing on it for Sunday, but I don't know. We'll see what the rest of the week brings.

-Interview conducted by Joshua Adland, Andrew Meyerson, Jacob Olidort and Samantha Slater