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This seems like a weak attack on mr. thompson. I don't really see the point. it seems more like a partisan hack than a valid politcal analysis.
I'm as yellow-dog Democrat as they come. But I actually think it's an intelligent and politically effective answer. First, it's the correct answer as a matter of policy. What the hell does he (or any of us, for that matter) know about the current state of intelligence on Bin Laden's whereabouts. Second, even if he did know what the proper tactic was, should he broadcast it for Osamma to hear?
But more to the point, it's a good answer politically. Nobody wants to hear him -- or any other candidate -- hold forth on how many squads of special forces guys we need to deploy, whether we need more predator overflights, of how we need to maneuver satellites to get better intelligence in the border territories. They want a general idea of his vision of how he'll deal with the terrorist threat and what, if anything, will change in his administration to make him more effective.
Not a Fred fan, but I don't have a problem with his initial response. What I took from it is that he didn't feel he had enough tactical information to credibly answer the question. I prefer that over an answer given to prompt a feel-good response from an audience, yet not based on any real tactical information or actual circumstances.
